Conduit Tale
by authormelanieray
Summary: Hopeless and in despair, Sans never thought he could escape the resets and continues caused by FRISK that tormented his life. But, when he thinks the kid is possessed and stops FRISK once and for all he finds out ... that he never really knew anything after all. No more resets. No more saves. No more hiding. Life will never be the same for the Underground. Sans/Older female Frisk
1. Prologue: Underground

_This story was originally coarser and is crossposted._

* * *

SHIP: 229. Location: Above UNDERGROUND.

Larrs took another drink of his coffee as he stared at his screen. "This will never work. He never strikes FRISK until it commits genocide."

"Reset again."

"What's the use? This plan isn't working." Larrs looked over toward Frank. "He does not strike unless FRISK is completely crazy with LOVE. Even when the mission does succeed, the Monster just completely destroys him. No compassion."

"Well, what do you expect?" Frank added as he rubbed his head. "FRISK is down there, annihilating everything the Monster knows and loves? Hello. I wouldn't let it go either. Larrs, pour me some of that coffee. This is going to be another all-nighter."

"When FRISK is decent though, he has no reason to strike it," Larrs reminded Frank as he poured him some coffee. "We've been through this, that doesn't work either. We've done this how many times? 300? 400? Been here half a year on this project alone."

"That's true," Frank agreed as he took some coffee for himself. "At least the Frisks inside FRISK gets a sanity break. Don't forget, there are real people inside that thing."

Larrs groaned as he glared at Frank. "He's not going to strike FRISK if it's good. Hell, he helps the damn thing out when it's good! But that Monster is not going to let anything go if it's causing genocide. Damn, Frank, we have a better chance of the conduit running away."

"He won't run away," Frank reminded him. "You know the process. Alone it's too small, can't walk well, can't talk well, yada yada. Not for a little while and he'd be blasted to kingdom come before he even uttered anything."

"Yeah," Larrs half agreed but winked at Frank. "If momma survived though, she'd save him. Frisk has a lot of DETERMINATION. Lowly human, but she'd take that Monster on for it."

"Forget it, I don't care," Frank muttered. "It's been half a year! The timelines may differ radically depending on what Dannick does from in FRISK, but it always comes down to the same damn thing. Set the Monster to start remembering."

"What? Whoah. Wait, whenever we do that, it never works out. Monsters go insane, and before you know it, they start … only half existing." Larrs rubbed his eyes. "It's not going to work, and we are going to lose our one shot at this."

"We've seen it for half a year. I'm tired of being up here, and you are tired of being up here. Setting it on reset is not going to do anything new."

"The Monster remembers on its own though enough," Larrs reminded Frank as he yawned. "How many times have we seen him do that judging thing against FRISK? Know something that he shouldn't. Recognize something's wrong."

"It's just a look, man. It's just got some weird ability to see inside. Some of the old classic Monsters do that weird shit, you know that. It doesn't really remember anything. Maybe it's like a déjà vu or something to it because of some glitch in the software too. I really don't care at this point. Project UNDERTALE would be under lackeys if it wasn't so damn important." Frank leaned against the wall, staring at the latest battle against Sans the Skeleton. "It's hard, man. This is it, this is all we need to take it all down. To free humanity again. Just this." He pointed at the screen. "Just crack this."

"If something happens to that Monster. Just like the other times, Frank …"

"It won't be the strongest, but there are other choices. Hell, we could get King Asgore for it if we needed to."

"That'd kill it. It'd be incompatible, you know that! Forgot our jobs, they'd kill us if we killed it."

"Alright, fine." Larrs pressed in some buttons. "Twenty rounds of memory?"

"Fifty, I would think."

"Fifty could break the mind. By ten, they start to commit suicide to try and escape reset."

"I've seen some go thirty rounds before they start pulling things together enough. It just depends on the Monster. Look, Sans the Skeleton is a knock-knock joke kick-back guy. I wouldn't expect that for at least fifty resets. Maybe sixty. So, forty?"

"Fine, let's start with forty. We'll watch the Monster's progress and decide whether to up or lower it."

"Either way, we need to put in less genocide. All the Frisks are going to start getting suspicious that the real mission isn't to get to the surface."

"What do I look like, someone who can talk to PERSEVERANCE? They are all on their own, as always. Don't worry. The leader's got DETERMINATION like none I've seen before."

"Sure, but we should still consider wiping out another part of their memories. Forty sessions maybe? We can't let them crack, and they are around … seventy? Shouldn't we erase soon?"

"Mmmmm … we'll watch her."

—


	2. A Bad Time In A Good Timeline

_Frisk will talk to several members of a team that reside inside, and each of their soldier names are represented by a human quality. They are all bold with their name in front to avoid so much confusion. The one talking without bold is DETERMINATION. Of course, the one with an * is Chara._

 _This is the only chapter featuring this strange inward conversation because Sans is going to split this wide open and begin the story.:)_

* * *

Again. Again. If it had been anyone but Sans, the guy stuck in his role would hate to even see this kid anymore. The one who might later have a killer knife. The one who would gain a weird locket. The same kid he let go for Toriel. The same kid who gave him his taste of sun for the first time.

He just tossed a bone up and down in the air, waiting. Waiting for the chance of freedom.

There was always something Sans hadn't liked from inside of Frisk, but no matter how many times he had tried, he couldn't predict when the kid turned. The first time they met, sometimes he was already too far gone. Covered in the stench of so much death.

Then sometimes he'd meet him and the kid was fine. Felt a little strange, but otherwise fine. Determined but somewhat normal kid who didn't hurt anyone. Many times it went out of its way not to hurt anyone. After a few resets, Sans came to a harsh conclusion. A strange conclusion, but it was the only thing that fit.

The kid _had_ to have some form of possession on him. Something kept having a hold of it, and until that something was destroyed? The resetting would continue. He tried to keep his spirits up, but whether good or bad timelines, life became so predictable. Just a constant play. Everything always felt the same, until Judgment Hall.

Something strangely enriching about when he got to fight in there. Because of some bizarre error, he was stuck his entire life with one hit point. But, damn. The resets. Over and over, dealing with the determination of that thing. He learned how to talk just right. How to fight just right. Especially dodging. No matter how strong the kid was, he would be killed and reset several times over. All for his little one hit point … and then he'd just come back and add something else new to the mix to stir the thing up next time.

Except, the last reset. He saw something last time, remembered it clear as a bell.

He. Almost. Won.

The thing called FRISK that was sometimes good, and sometimes bad. When it tried the Mercy trick, Sans used his attack that squeezed too tight for a soul heart to escape. He'd done it several times over several timelines but this time the results were . . . interesting. He heard not just a scream, but several screams.

There were more than one body and soul inside of FRISK. It was an amalgamate somehow?

Too shocked by what happened, he had aimed, destroying one of the humans that appeared. It didn't reset. But, he heard something _else_ scream reset.

Sending him right back to the beginning again! But, it didn't dash his hopes. Instead, Sans started thinking. He thought more and more. If he could make that happen again. If he could dismantle the invincible FRISK again. Make sure nothing survived in time to reset, this would end.

Life. He could have a life again. Except for one thing.

His best chance was when FRISK didn't have much LV or EXP. No locket. No knife. He'd be able to fight for much longer. Not only that, but if it did work? If the resets stopped, he'd actually _have_ the Underground. His brother. A life again.

That small strain of hope kept him going as he waited behind the pillar. He waited for the sounds of the confused kid that had been coming. He stayed on the other side of the pillar and waited for its approach.

* * *

 _Okay, what?_ FRISK looked around. FRISK was just about to go into Alphys lab, when she found herself suddenly walking down judgment hall. Ahead of her, she saw Sans.

"So you finally made it," Sans said. "The end of your journey is at hand."

FRISK remained calm. How they glitched from coming to the lab all the way to judgment hall was anybody's guess. Nothing was impossible, but the dark silhouette of Sans in front of them was never comforting. Even when he was friendly, he always seemed to stir emotion up. Almost more than any other.

He was the only one she couldn't seem to find out how to get mercy from. She had hurt not even a single soul this run, so he should let her pass. No worries. Except for the fact that she shouldn't have been there yet . . . _just a glitch in the system_.

"In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together … you will determine the future of this world. That's then. Now. You will be judged. You will be judged for every action. You will be judged for every EXP you've earned."

 **PATIENCE:** **Frisky, he's tossing a bone in the air now. He doesn't look friendly at all this time.**

"What's EXP?" Sans continued. "It's an acronym. It stands for Execution Points." He stopped tossing the bone and held it tight. "A way of quantifying the _pain_ you've inflicted on others."

 _Stay calm_. When he spoke, it was with the same kind of words he always used. Some of them changed here and there over all the resets, but it was similarly close. Still, she could understand the jumpiness of her team. Sans did have a stranger sound to his voice he had never had before.

Not as far back as she was allowed to remember anyhow.

"When you kill someone," Sans continued, "your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for Level of Violence. A way of measuring someone's capacity to _hurt_."

 **PATIENCE:** **He let the bone drop to the ground. Oh, did you hear that thud? I'm telling you, he knows something.**

 **KINDNESS: Of course he knows something. Some computer readings or something. That's it.**

 **PERSEVERANCE: Yeah, but lately he has really known something.**

 _Guys, quiet. Let me concentrate._

Sans had gone on talking about his judgment but it sounded like he would be reaching the end soon.

" . . . but you. You never gained any LOVE. 'Course, that doesn't mean you're completely **_innocent_** or naïve. Just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart." Sans approached closer.

 **PERSEVERANCE: He's coming closer. He doesn't do that. He never approached me.**

 _Calm down, everyone. It's okay._

"You know, usually at this point unless you are completely genocidal, I just let you go," Sans answered. "I spare you and let you do your thing. Get your pointless ending."

FRISK's eyes popped open a second as she felt a wave of power rush beside her head.

"Unfortunately, that's not gonna happen because I am tired of this." Sans grinded his teeth against each other. "And even if you never hurt anyone now, you have _before_. So, I don't even feel guilty about this. Let's do it. One more time, _kid_."

* * *

Several Days Later . . .

Easy peasy. Wow, he didn't even break a sweat yet. FRISK was fully charged again, but having never fought anything or gaining any EXP had kept it at too low of a level to survive even a single attack for long. Shoot, there was even a good chance he'd be able to take a nap and the kid wouldn't attempt to hit him. He never took it that far, but he knew he'd be in it for a long haul. He didn't constantly attack, but he took time for himself. He still only had one hit point, and he needed to be careful not to get too tired.

Before he brought Frisk to the battlefield he loaded himself up with everything that he could afford. Glamburgers and Grillby's almost fell out of his pockets. Without sleep, he was going to need something to help keep him going.

The sound of a crumbling heart from the attacks were constant, except when FRISK backed off from coming near him. It needed sleep and food too. As long as it didn't try to go back and start murdering innocent monsters to level up though, he'd let it do its thing.

So far, the kid hadn't tried to hit him once though. Not once. They'd been going at it for so long, that even the food wasn't going to constantly be able to keep him going. Still, Frisk didn't change. It refused to change, and just kept putting its hand on the Mercy button.

"I'll just take you out again. I won't bend for mercy." Sans used his attack again. He usually reserved it for the moment the genocidal Frisk decided on a whim to spare him. It beat down hard, too fast, and defeated him. It was perfect, but it took some power to hold it up longer.

For this Frisk, it didn't take much energy at all. But, since this Frisk did nothing but heal and Mercy, he had to vary his attacks.

Frisky groaned. _I am trying really hard._ _I've never given up before, but there's nothing here on the menu. Like always._ _I can't even talk to him._ _Sans never has a way to spare him._

Sans didn't care about the tears, the begging, or the whining. Dying hurts? Of course it did, and he didn't care. He never cared. Yep, her team saved, died, and came back over and over. Dying hurt each time, but not as bad as it would soon. Once deserted, she would fill the full brunt of the pain, zapping her power.

Frisky held DETERMINATION, and always lasted the longest. The others will power would be fading soon, and only her and PERSEVERANCE would be left.

Thus had it always been. A constant battle between DETERMINATION and PERSEVERANCE.

 **INTEGRITY:** **I refuse to do this anymore** **. He'll never change. Please. Don't let him hurt you anymore.**

 **JUSTICE: I agree, this is getting pointless. I'm out.**

 **PERSEVERANCE: Always told you guys.**

 **KINDNESS:** **Shut up,** **PERSEVERANCE** **! I'm still here, Frisky. I got your back, girl. At** **least, a few more hours.** **Minutes.** **Maybe.**

 ***You're all pathetic. Push it onto them again. Go hide away, go sleep inside. Wussies. Always the same.**

 **BRAVERY: I can't keep up the will. I am so sorry. Maybe let PERSEVERANCE take over? You can't beat Sans, and you won't let this go if you do everything right but kill him.**

 _I won't do that. I won't hurt anyone, and I will not give up control._ Frisk tried to keep the emotions back.

 ***They all left you again, Frisky.**

 _I can't blame them,_ _Chara_ _. Every human has a limit._

 ***Yeah, and yours is coming up soon too.** **_He_** **is starting to stir.**

 _I will figure this out. I will, just, help me hold him asleep too? Please?_

 ***That means you'll be completely on your own. Only PERSEVERANCE will be here.**

 _Please? This is my timeline. I worked hard on it, and I can't just give this up to PERSEVERANCE. Please?_

 ***Stop the gushing. I'm out.**

 _Okay. Alright._ _Just concentrate. It's no different._ It just hurt a thousand times worse. _No, no, no. I will do this._

Frisky stood still. What could she do? If she just came at him again, he'd tear her up in a second. The pain didn't last long before it disappeared, but even a second of it was horrible. It was even worse when she managed to survive longer, bones jig jagging out of her soul. She was the one in charge of the body now. Complete control, everyone's soul fell asleep except PERSEVERANCE. Even Chara could not help.

When it felt pain, she felt pain, no one else. No one was going to help her, and Sans wouldn't let her pass.

No option worked.

Frisk looked ahead of her. Why would he disturb a good timeline, just to fight? Why? He obviously remembered. He was the one who took FRISK from coming up to the lab, into Judgment Hall. _If he remembers that we split apart, then maybe. Maybe he knows a way to free us?_ _If we_ _split again, I think this will be over. No more resets._

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **No. Hell no.**

 _This needs to end. Wake PATIENCE up._

 **PERSEVERANCE: It's suicide.**

 _PATIENCE! Wake PATIENCE up, PERSEVERANCE. You know you want out of this just as much._ _We can't_ _stay like this forever. This mission is a failure because we can't reset correctly, and I am so tired of living this over and over. Breaks aren't going to change it. Mind wipes aren't going to change it._

 **PERSEVERANCE** **:** **I promise I won't reset a happy ending.** **I** **haven't been resetting!** **I** **am beyond the point of caring!** **I just want out too, but this is not the way!**

 **PATIENCE: No, PERSEVERANCE,** **95452** **is** **right. We all knew this could happen if a conduit is set wrong. We'll just keep coming back.**

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **Oh yeah? 95452, you know what happens when you fail a mission. Are you going to accept it?**

 _There is no way to win._ _This is the only way out, or we're stuck like this forever._

 **PERSEVERANCE: Will you accept it? Declare it. No foul misgivings here.**

 **PATIENCE: Okay … okay. I will work out the mathematics.**

 **PERSEVERANCE: Come on, DETERMINATION. Frisky.**

 _Do not call me that while in battle. That is breaking violations in your position._

 **PERSEVERANCE: Failed Mission. Say it.**

 _PERSEVERANCE, wake everyone but him up. They should know._ Once Frisk felt the power of everyone returned, she began. _I, Frisk 95452, PACIFIST soldier_ _of Mission Surface Seven, deem this mission a failure._ She heard several complaints from her whole team _. This mission cannot be resolved._

 **INTEGRITY: We can't quit. Failure isn't an option. We're not living the rest of our liv** **es like this. I'm not doing that!**

 _Last time, Sans split us. The accuracy of measurements could be tried a second time. PATIENCE is on it._

 **PATIENCE: There is an eighty percent probability at least a few of us will survive, if factors from the last split are the same. The conduit of course will survive. Failsafe, Frisky. He'll be okay no matter what.**

 _I know. We need to try._

 **KINDNESS: Oh, to do this, we will completely corrupt the Underground. Bad things, errors, oh man. A conduit doesn't break down here** **!**

 **INTEGRITY: Kindness is right. We should think about it.**

 _I don't know why Sans remembered last time. That itself could be a glitch. There is no guarantee he will remember the next time_ _. He needs to have the strength to split just right, and knowing PERSEVERANCE, he won't get the chance to rest._

 **PERSEVERANCE: Always have to give me a bad rap? I am trying to save** **lives!**

 _By killing Monsters._

 ** _PERSEVERANCE: Screw you,_** **_Frisky. I see which way this war needs to go. You don't know anything. But, damn! Ugh. I_** **_hate Sans. Such a hard_** ** _thing_** ** _to kill, especially lately. He is just getting worse._** **_If he kills me, I will haunt the Underground._**

 ** _*_** ** _Join the Conga line._**

 _If_ _he hits us just right, if we split just right . . . we could dismantle FRISK._

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **If I live, I'll go kill Papyrus just to piss him off.**

 **INTEGRITY:** **No, don't you start that! If we live, we will rendezvous and contact home base. Leave them alone.**

 **BRAVERY:** **Yeah. I'll take you on with my twin brother, no sweat, genocider.**

 **KINDNESS:** **I will kill you** **PERSEVERANCE** **if you lay one hand on** **my** **Toriel** **!** **She** **does nothing but give you pie and you just play with her emotions!**

 _Okay, I think this sounds resolved. It's time. PATIENCE? The calculations and everyone get ready._

* * *

Well. It looked like it worked. On the ground laid a strange body near him. It looked like a girl. Hm. He held his hand out to her, but not as a hand up. He aimed it at her. He wasn't stupid after all. Her body was blurry, ghostly. It hardly had form.

"Stop. Stop being so scary," she told him. "I don't think . . ." Her body was barely even seen now.

Sans watched her form completely dissipate. While he did that, he kept himself on complete alert. He walked across the Judgment Hall. When it split itself in the attack, it split far.

There was a ghostly form that just passed, but from what he saw, there was a three, maybe four-way split. Most of the pieces looked like they weren't big enough to even be separated bodies.

"Die!"

Sans didn't even turn around to see his protective bones take out the enemy. He turned around after the fact and saw red glowing eyes shining back, lifeless through the pile of bones. It slumped, died, but didn't reset. _Anything moving, first strike. I am not letting this go this time._

"Sans, help! Sans! Sans!"

Hm? Sans watched as a really small looking human waddled his way. Really small. He had assumed last time that Frisk was eight or ten or something, but . . . he didn't look much older than two or three. _Except maybe that?_

"Sans! Sans!" It kept walking to him, squeezing its hands in its palms, in and out. It had the same hair he remembered. His shirt was the same too, but way too big for him. It was more of a blanket than a shirt.

 _How in_ _the-it_ _remembers me, but doesn't fear me at all?_ Hmm. He knew it didn't have much power level, and it could barely walk well, so it wasn't a threat. He watched its little face as it trundled over to him and placed its small hands on his coat. There was nothing evil in its eyes. It must have been a real kid in the amalgamate. It made it out somehow. But, how did it get mixed up in all that other stuff? _Just what the heck tripped into the Ruins?_ _Well, lucky you_. "Hey, kid. You've done a mess of damage."

It just touched its lip and stared up at him. "I did, Sans?"

"Yeah, but. I'll, uh, let it slip this time." He'd already had time to judge him. There was nothing more evil that didn't linger in every other Monster. Whatever it was that had felt wrong, it was right now. The kid was just . . . a regular little kid.

"Oh, oh!" The kid started to jump beside him.

"Kay? I don't get what you're driving at." The boy patted his clothes harder and motioned farther away. Oh. The extras. No one else survived except this kid. "Later, kiddo. Let's get you out of here. I know a shortcut."

A few minutes earlier . . .

Frisk woke up, but his body felt so weak. _Momma?_ He expected her to answer. In fact, when he accidentally woke up, there were usually a ton of voices ricocheting in his head. He placed his hands out and pushed himself up. Wow. He was small, way smaller than he should have been. His sweater was too big on him.

He must have become separated. As he looked around though, his legs started to tremble. It couldn't be. It couldn't be! The scenery around him, too gruesome! He scrambled to move away, but his balance was off. He knew such a long time together with different souls changed him severely when they all broke apart, but he had to move away!

Where was he? It was golden. There were pillars. Where was he? _Momma!_ He couldn't remember anything except . . .

 ** _"I'm going to_** **_Grillby's_** ** _. Do you want to join me?"_**

 ** _"Have you ever heard of the Echo Flower?"_**

 ** _"Burgers or Fries?"_**

 ** _"My brother always wanted to see a human."_**

Sans! That's it, he did remember something about the Underground mission. Not that it would do any good, where was he in the mission?

"Die," he heard behind him. He got scared and tumbled, but turned back around. There was some kind of person on top of a pile of bonish . . . _Ewww_ _!_ He wanted to close his eyes to the horror, but then he saw him.

Sans, the funny skeleton guy! He tried to call out, to tell him that he needed to find his mom, that something went wrong, and that he needed help. He tried to run, but all he could manage was a fast enough waddle that wouldn't make him tumble. Oh, it was like retraining his body again when he finally got it back. If he could just say something though. "Sans, help! Sans! Sans!"

There, some voice now. He tried to move even faster. Sans wasn't moving toward him. Maybe he was scared of the place too? It was a horrible place, and they needed to leave. When he reached him though, he couldn't say a full sentence like 'Sans, we need to get out of here, it's dangerous. The team will find us, they're all pros, let's go.' He couldn't even get close enough to the top of him. While they used to be closer in size, now Sans was three times as high. Frisk beated on his coat, trying to get him the message. Why wasn't he moving?

He reached up to him. "Up, up!" A few more words.

"Hey, kid. You've done a mess of damage," Sans finally spoke.

"I did, Sans?" Short, but getting there with words. He did a mess of damage? They weren't supposed to be doing damage on the mission.

"Yeah, but. I'll, uh, let it slip this time."

Okay, well, at least Sans wasn't mad at him, but that didn't take them out of the danger. Sans looked at him, but he wasn't moving. Come on! "Up, up!"

Sans picked him up but still couldn't figure out what he was saying. It didn't matter though because Sans actually got them out.

 _Thank you, Sans. Thank you, thank you!_ Now Frisk just had to wait until he was back to normal, and then get back to his mom.


	3. Halt, Intruder!

"This is not good." Papyrus looked down at the boy, eating his burger inside of Grillby's. "Undyne says we don't have to catch humans, but the king says we do." He put his bony hand on Frisk's head. "And this human seems to have shrunk from last time. His clothes don't even fit."

"Yeah. He must have shopped at a **half-** **off** sale."

"This is serious, Sans," his brother criticized him. "Mm. What do we do?"

"Eat?"

"No, I mean, the human. I, I don't want to put it through dangerous puzzles."

"Then, don't."

"But, the king says we still have to go after them! Eventually, Undyne will …"

"Chill, bro. No problem." Sans looked down at the boy. He wanted to have a little time to just relax before he had to deal with what was coming. "You done yet?"

The kid still had more than half of his sandwich. "Fffffrrrrisssk? Need Fffffrrrrisssk."

"Who's Fffffrrrrisssk?" Papyrus asked his brother.

"Beats me. Hey, are we off-duty for the whole day? I could get some rest."

"No. No, we are not!" Papyrus left his burger and chair. "We shouldn't be late. We must watch out for humans! Or, uh, other humans? Maybe? Intruders, we shall watch for intruders."

"Uh, okay, cool. I'll be right there." Sans looked down at the boy. "So, what's your real name?"

"Ffffrrrisssk."

"So, you are looking for Frisk, and your name is Frisk too? Heh, cool." He popped his last bit of burger in his mouth. "Come on. I'm taking you to a special knock-knock door."

"But? Ffffrrrrissskyyyy." Frisk's sad eyes were beginning to water. "Momma is Fffrrisky."

Sans choked on his burger slightly as he reached for his catsup. Oh, yeah. His mom was inside that thing too? "Well, Frisky's not here anymore. You're on your own."

"Is!" Frisk started to cry and grabbed onto Sans clothes again. "Is, Sans, is!"

This kid was really emotional. It wasn't half as composed as it used to be. As he looked around he saw others looking at him, including Grillby. "We need to go."

"Momma!" Frisk kept rubbing his eyes. Sans tried to lure him out, but it wasn't working. "Is, Is, Is, IS, IS!" Picking him up, he had no choice but to carry him out. Yeah, he really missed that composure now. But, well, at least it wouldn't be resetting time and screwing his life up anymore.  
And that was worth the price of a little bit of babysitting.

* * *

The kid pouted on his shoulder most of the way through the snow. When he reached Toriel's door, he didn't even need to knock. She probably already heard the blubbering. "Knock-knock?"

"Who's there?" There wasn't as much enthusiasm in her voice.

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you looking for some company?"

" . . ."

Sans tried to pull Frisk away from himself, but he wouldn't let go. "Come on. It's Toriel. You remember her, don't you?" Frisk just shook his head and still didn't let go.

"No. I told the human if it left, it could not come back. Staying here, it would lose its light."

No. That's not the answer Sans wanted to hear. She was supposed to take Frisk, and he was supposed to be back at his post to get some much deserved **_rest_**. To enjoy the ending to all the mind-numbing resetting. "Knock-knock?"

"No."

"Pull."

"No."

"Pullease take it? It's kind of changed." Sans tried to pull it off again. "If it gets into an encounter, it's dead this time."

"No, I will have faith in the child. You should too."

"He's shrunk though. He got smaller."

"Humans don't do that."

"Okay, well, it's a different human?" He waited for the voice but it didn't return. She wouldn't believe that, she knew all the humans that fell. They had to go through the ruins to ever come out. "Geez, no." This. This wasn't a good time. Dang. "What am I supposed to do with you now?"

* * *

"Hoi, I'm Temmie, and dis is my friend-!"

"Now is not the time to mess with me," Frisky said as the Temmie's backed away from her. She felt around her shoulders. The air was getting colder. She was getting closer. When she had come to, she realized she was finally by herself. Except that her tremendously difficult opponent was gone. And so was her six-year-old son. In fact, she wasn't even in Judgment Hall, the blast hurling her to the castle.

As she moved back to Judgment Hall, she sorted through the parts of those that didn't teleport right. They . . . didn't all match. Considering there were seven Frisks, it looked like at least two more had escaped.

Frisky didn't know why her boy was missing, but she had to assume Sans the Skeleton took him. Frisk would be almost immobile, infantile after so long of being together. No matter how angry Sans was, she had to believe Sans knew Frisk couldn't hurt anyone and just took him to safety. It was bad enough to be stuck in the Underground. It was bad enough sharing a body and switching consciousness between several people. She had to believe that, _really_ had to because . . .

Sans didn't accept mercy. He wanted to crack them. Viciously. She had no chance against him, but he just took the _one_ thing she couldn't let go of. Mere human or not, she had to find a way to get him to ACT and not FIGHT to get her son back. "Do you have any extra clothes?" She still wasn't as tall as she was in her original form, a couple of inches off, but the program that teleported her there would probably get the data worked out. The fact that she even survived the emergency soul teleporting transfer was enough to not want to complain.

"Temmie has new item!"

"Temmie, I am really not in the mood, unless it's clothes." Then again, maybe the new item was a weapon? No, she had grabbed the knife and the locket. And that was about it. She had to actually cover herself with echo flowers, which didn't work the best.

"Temmie has new items!"

"Okay, a quick look." Frisky stepped closer to Temmie and a digital menu opened up. She moved her hands through the options and spotted the new things. "Black box snake. Hoodie." Hm. She needed more info than the menu had. "Can I see the black box snake?"

"Temmie show!" From behind the sale box, Temmie had . . . an MP3 player.

Frisky didn't waste any time and paid for it, grabbing it. _MP3 player._ She put the small attached ear pod that looked like it survived in her ear and turned it on. She skipped through the first few songs. _Sonofa-!_ "This was my sisters."

"No, girl never brought it in."

"She wouldn't. She was killed. It's a calling card." Frisky held the MP3 player close. PERSEVERANCE must have survived and had already reached out for help. She had to hurry, knowing exactly where PERSEVERANCE would strike first. The same place she was heading to. "I'll take the Hoodie too." After she put the blue hoodie over her, she placed the MP3 player in her pocket. She kept her ear pod in as she covered her head. This was ending. Soon. One way or another.

Frisky would never hurt an innocent Monster.

But she had an evil _person_ in her sight, and they had to find out what she could do with her knife.

* * *

"Sans!"

"Huh?" Sans looked over at his brother, Papyrus. "Sup?" He looked around himself. He was at his post. _Did it still reset?_ Then, he felt something over his shoulders and looked over. Frisk was sleeping on his back. He breathed a sigh of relief. No reset.

"You can't work at your post with a human sleeping on you!"

"I didn't have a problem."

"Sans!"

"What?"

"Do _something_ with it."

"Well, what?"

"Mm?" Papyrus tapped his mandible. "Mm."

"Yep." Toriel wasn't going to take it. Eventually the king was going to make Undyne look for it again.

"Well, maybe the other human will take it?" Papyrus said.

Wait, huh? "Another human?" Sans asked. "What other human?"

"Where have you been?" Papyrus groaned. "Have you not been checking the security cameras?" He stomped his foot. "You must be on alert for intruders!"

"I am." Sans pushed himself up slightly. "What other human?"

"A tall one, as tall as me! Why do you think the king wants one so bad? That is why we need to do something with the tiny little human," Papyrus insisted. "I-I think we are about to start hunting humans again soon."

* * *

Frisky unplugged the earpod and turned the music up as loud as she could. She sung along with it in the snow, even dancing. If she could attract PERSEVERANCE to her before she reached Sans, at least she would have peace of mind the Monsters would be okay.

Ugh. Encounter. She saw an alert hit her. Damn. A Gyftrot was confronting her. "Not a good idea." Still, she was forced into the encounter. As had happened many times before, a heart appeared in front of her. Her soul. In her world, fighting happened without anything like signs anymore, but, in the Underground, the signs were a magic courteousy to help Monsters from killing each other accidentally. Any caught who didn't use the buttons right would be punished to death. It was because souls were special. Tender, so easy to break, and there were so few Monsters that survived in the Underground. It also made it easier to see someone's true power to avoid battles someone couldn't win. Plus, GOLD. What they called GOLD was just digital points kept in an account, used instantly across the Underground.

Every Monster also had their interests, problems, or habits blazing against the board. No one chose to tell someone what would end the encounter, it was a subconscious response that the board found inside each opponent. Those options lied in ACT, while ITEM left you time to eat or use something which would make your soul stronger. MERCY was the button Frisky tended to use the most, with FIGHT hardly ever used. As Toriel taught her many times, most Monsters could be reasoned with. "Do we really have to do this?" She pushed ACT and saw UNDECORATE. Coming closer she took something off of it.

After the battle was over, she left again. If she was running into Gyftrot's, she was close.

* * *

"Your sign is spelled wrong."

"Ugh!" One of the librarians looked annoyed at Sans. "We know that."

"Good. It should say BABY. Here you go." He tried to hand Frisk over to her.

"Baby? No, no, Librarby! I mean, library! We do not watch anything." She gestured toward Frisk. "It's not a baby either. Actually, what is that thing?"

This was getting difficult. He was going to have to start looking at a Monster family list soon, but there was no guarantee the one chosen wouldn't just eat the defenseless thing.

"I'll take it," Doggo said from the doorway. "Only a matter of time before we get a clear yes about taking care of these humans." He brought out his knife. "I'll hold it until then. Just move over here and bring it to me."

"Uh, no thanks. I'll hold it." Sans lowered Frisk. _Okay, this is a small thing. The resets_ _should finally be over._ _Everything's great. I just need to figure out how_ ** _not_** _to get the kid killed. No big deal._ Hmm.

Well, maybe Papyrus would watch it for awhile. He still _really_ needed some sleep after that battle.

* * *

"Uh, stop right there!" Papyrus announced as a human came across his 'keep humans out' gate. This one was definitely different. He had a blondish sort of hair. All the other features matched up though. He even acted like the other one before it grew small. It preferred to walk and keep its eyes closed. "You cannot enter here."

"Sorry. Please don't hurt me, Sir," it begged. The voice sounded deep. It was an adult human, but shorter than him. Perhaps. Well, he sounded deep like an adult Monster. So, reasoning being what it is? Probably an adult. Different than the one that had showed up on the security cameras. "I don't know anything about fighting or Monsters or anything. Please? Mercy?"

"Hmm." It was a human, which Undyne said they couldn't capture anymore. But, it was still an intruder. Hmm. Papyrus pulled him into an encounter. **PAPYRUS:** **ACT: Talk.** "Why have you crossed this border? No one is allowed in!" He had a duty to stop everyone and make sure they were good first beforehand. He might even make them do puzzles to see if they were wonderful enough to come in. Depending on how it completed them, it would show him what they were like. At least, it was probably a him.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "Please don't hurt me, Sir! I don't know where else to go. I just fell through the ruins. This place was in my path. Please let me go?"

Wow, this one was more talkative than the last human. **PAPYRUS:** **ACT:** **Talk.** "Umm. I cannot just allow an intruder into this area! It is a very important area!"

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "Sir, I am so sorry for this. I promise, I will go straight through. You can even guide me through. Honestly, I am just looking for my family. They fell before me. And, my boy is so small, he could get hurt out here. Please?"

 **PAPYRUS:** **ACT** **:** **Talk** **.** "Uhhh?"

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "Please, Sir? I am worried about my family. My poor wife must be so scared. I want to protect my family. Don't you understand that?"

Protection. Protection was something Papyrus understood whole-heartedly. Perhaps this was even the human boy's father that he had right now? Should he pull it out from his booth to give him back? **PAPYRUS:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "Uhh . . . o-okay."

"Oh no you don't, PERSEVERANCE, you-!"

Papyrus was shocked by the words he heard, but even more shocked by the fact that someone interrupted his encounter. And took a hit. A dreadful hit! "What?!"

"Out, Papyrus!" The injured human pushed him out of the encounter area. She glared at the other human. **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "You came all the way back here just to start your spree again, PERSEVERANCE? I had a feeling you would start right here."

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT:** **Talk.** "Oh, I'm hurt, Frisky. Still calling me by my soldier address for the mission? That you _failed_ , by the way? Anyhow, I was hurled back further, but that wanna be momma goat wasn't there. Looks like she already left to the castle. No big surprise. She would have been a great boost in EXP too, but hell. Papyrus is more than EXP. He's also you know who's 'coolest guy ever', right?" The human opened his eyes at her. Red eyes.

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "No, you cannot do this." Frisky kept her knife close and made extra sure she kept the locket on her. "I won't let you."

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Ooh, so you found those goodies?" PERSEVERANCE laughed. "Yeah. They could save you right now. If you can do it. Can you do it? Can you strike me down without mercy?" He held his own weapon out to her. "Oh, but wait. I probably have some goodies too, don't I?"

Frisky looked over toward Papyrus. She pulled her knife sideways in front of her face. Which weapon did he have? Knowing PERSEVERANCE, he had something up his sleeve.

Before she could steal Frisk back, she had to stop PERSEVERANCE's rage.


	4. Hero Prisoner

Sans opened his eye socket from his post as he saw Undyne, Lesser Dog and Greater Dog go past him. That didn't look good. Had the order been switched again? He got up and left his post, following behind. "Hey, where's everybody going?"

"To attack a human," one of the Royal Guards said to him, looking backward. "Keep up!"

"Aren't we done with that?" Sans yawned, trotting.

"No!" Undyne yelled from the front, but didn't stop. "This one almost killed Papyrus! Now, ship up and get going or-!" She looked behind her, but Sans was long gone.

* * *

No way. The first time he lost Papyrus, it was like someone stabbed him over a thousand times. The hurt wouldn't stop. It wouldn't! He had so much _anger_ boiling inside until he died at Judgment Hall. When he realized time resetted, it took a lot of the sting away. Even when he knew what happened, or what would happen, he never tried to watch it. It was easier remembering that he'd be back again. Everyone would be back again.

But, if he did it right, there would be no more resets. No, there was no way he was going to lose his brother this time. "Papyrus, you okay?!"

Papyrus looked behind him. "Sans! Uh, everything is fine!" He stood proudly. "Nothing could take down I, The Great Papyrus!" He gestured to the fight. "Although I was interrupted. The littler human is fine though."

"A human tried to kill you!" Undyne, Lesser Dog, and Greater Dog appeared right behind him.

"Well, uh," Papyrus stammered. "Oh, forget it. Now the humans are fighting each other. Sans? Where are you going? Don't go that way, you'll get pulled into it."

"Humans can't do anything, they have no magic. Lesser Dog, Greater Dog! We are taking this over!"

Sans watched as Undyne practically flung a human out of the way. "Papyrus, you okay?"

"Uh? Well?" Papyrus looked at Frisk, sloping down against his leg. "I ran into a human, and it pretended to be merciful. And then when it started to fight, the other human interrupted. And now, apparently Undyne doesn't want a human fighting but -Sans! For the last time, stop! Oh, Sans never listens to me!"

It was supposed to be over. For good. Sans barely controlled himself as he watched the fight. He didn't want to fight Undyne, but he couldn't risk letting that evil human go. _Papyrus._ _This time if I lose him, it's for good._ He remembered that feeling. The first time he found his brother. That burned a hard memory to get rid of.

"Please let me fight, Undyne!" Frisky yelled at her, knowing backup to the enemy would be coming too. Sooner or later, he was not alone.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Oh look, a fish and two dogs. Cute. Well, I've always hated mongrels, so let's take out the dogs first."

"Undyne!" The yelling didn't seem to have an affect. PERSEVERANCE was going to tear through them. Frisky looked over toward Sans who wasn't moving. He probably believed there was nothing that could be done. That they'd just reset. Whichever, neither was true anymore. She just watched as Greater Dog went first. When Lesser Dog went, Undyne screamed and tried to beat them.

Undyne didn't understand how he knew her moves, her dodges, and her surprise attacks. She didn't see the saves and continues that her and Sans kept seeing. It was just up to the battle where Undyne started fighting at. He would eventually beat her.

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Wretched Scum!" Undyne yelled, knowing her hit points left. "I can't believe I will fall to the likes of you."

"They are cheaters," Frisky encouraged here. "Please. Why waste time on wretched scum anyhow? You shouldn't die because of cheaters. Let another wretched scum deal with him. Please." Undyne didn't move as Frisky came in closer. "Please. Live to fight real opponents, not fools. They aren't worth the time of your spear."

Undyne pointed her spear at her. **UNDYNE:** **A** **CT: Talk.** "Wretched." She pulled herself back up as Frisky entered the battle again. Undyne was too weak now to drive her out.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Come on, Frisky. Don't you want to tear into me? We've got at least a few resets a piece left. Maybe. I don't know, I forget," he chuckled. "Friska was the mathematic part of the equation. She can't do much now, considering her little soul was taken by those Monsters." He shrugged his shoulders. "Nice to see it was just you and the kid that made it out then. Then again, that little essence that had been inside of us. She always liked to attach to someone. Did she go with you? With Frisk? Maybe me?"

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "Nothing you say is going to make me lose my cool. Make a move."

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk**. "Nothing, huh? What if I reset it all again?"

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "You wouldn't do it. To be all together again, and risk the split apart? You wouldn't risk dying. That's why you take out everything in your path, you're too scared you'll meet someone more powerful. Power doesn't come from killing everything." Frisky held her knife straight toward him. "It's about DETERMINATION."

That didn't make him happy. His smug expression was wiped away. **ACT: Talk.** "Damn, you're such an annoying hero wannabe. Of course, that's probably why you were picked for the project, wasn't it? Couldn't let your little boy go. Had to pass those selfish tests just to stay near him."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "Like I said." She sharpened her eyes at him. "DETERMINATION. I'll give you one last chance. We are separated. The mission is _over_." She shoved her MP3 player into the ACT menu.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Well, DETERMINATION little Frisky might have, but PERSEVERANCE is going to win out. Once I get going again, you won't be able to stop me or the others coming soon. No one will. Not even you know who," he mocked her. "Although as determined as his butt is, he's probably not here. He's sleeping somewhere or farting around somewhere, probably at Grillby's. It's all he does. Every time we come through. Not that I bet you could ask him for help anyhow." He laughed straight at her. "No, the shame and guilt for all those resets, all that fighting, all that blood on your hands."

 ***** **PERSEVERANCE** **saw right through you.**

He just had to say that. _Damn._ That was a weak spot for Frisky. **ACT: Talk.** "Monsters deserve to live just like everyone. One day, they are going to realize what is going on. You can't keep them in the dark forever."

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Not every human feels that way. If they did, I wouldn't be here. So, now what? Are you going to try and gain some EXP on me? Or are you going to take out some little Monsters to gain up some LOVE? What'll it be, Frisky?"

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Get back further, Sans. I'm warning you!" Undyne shouted from the encounter area.

Sans didn't answer back but the fighters took notice of him.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Oh, hey! It's Sans, Frisky. Our old friend. Why not say hi before we get shot up a thousand times by him? Kind of gone quiet, haven't you? Past coming back to haunt you again? Oooh, the shame you must feel inside. Makes you keep that hoodie up every time he's around, doesn't it? In fact, I bet you could beat me. You and I both know _you have it_ _in_ , but then you'd be judged by him again. You know you don't want that. Hmm-mm-mmm. What to do, what to do? Come on, Frisky? Ya gonna do it or what?"

"What does she have?" Sans muttered beneath his breath. Sans looked at her screen.

 ***Player feels deep shame.**

Sans scooted away from the onlookers and moved toward the right.

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "This fight is pretty boring so far. You haven't even tried anything yet, Frisky. Come on. This is getting kind of old. You're known for being a lot more fun than this."

 ***** **RESET ABILITIES** **DISABLED.**

 **PERSEVERANCE:** **ACT: Talk.** "Are you kidding me, you had that opportunity and you're choosing that? Really, Frisky? You know that is dangerous for both-"

Frisky looked over at him again and watched him get consumed by bones coming up from the bottom. Familiar looking blue shaded bones. "Eh? I." PERSEVERANCE's hand twitched in the mess of bones that had pinned him.

 **Battle won!** **2 EXP earned.**

"Who did that? Who interrupted the battle?!" Undyne shouted. "Humans can't do magic. Someone interrupted the fight!" She growled at Frisky but then marched toward Papyrus, and grabbed Frisk.

* * *

"Undyne," Sans spoke up. "Can't you **_cut_** it a break?"

"U-Undyne," Papyrus added. "I just don't think-"

"Stop!" Undyne held Frisk up in her hands. "I want answers _now_! How did one human know all of my attacks? Know how to dodge? Know my special attacks!" She grabbed Frisky in her other hand. "What did you do at the end? What was that device?"

"Disabling reset takes time," Frisk tried to explain. "I distracted him."

"And what is that device you used?!"

"A human thing."

"Not good enough!" Undyne held Frisk up higher.

"Undyne." Frisky licked her lip gently. "He's just a little boy. Defenseless. You know that. Let him go. Let him go, and I will get out of here. I promise, I won't come back."

"That wouldn't be a good thing," Sans piped up again. "We won because of whatever _she_ just did."

"Yes. I want to see that device of yours." Undyne dropped Frisk to the ground to hold her hand out for it. He shot straight over to Sans. "Give it here."

"It only works when two humans are on opposite sides of the battlefield," Frisky warned Undyne as she gave it up to her. "For precautionary reasons."

"We shall see." Undyne held it up. "This is mine for now. As for you, I don't fully trust you. Greater Dog. Lesser Dog. They are _gone_ because of your kind." She looked at the device. "The king doesn't want humans, but they aren't just walking around free here. _Never again_."

"U-Undyne. I think it's only fair-"

"Shutup, Papyrus!" She yelled at him. "So many are gone because of _humans_."

"We were saved by a _human_. A human even helped you once, not that long ago," Sans pointed out too. Undyne growled at him, but Sans didn't back down. "Whatever that ability was, it was strong."

"The humans clearly have something in battle, something new that we can't fight," Papyrus backed him up. "Maybe before getting rid of them, you should see if she is telling the truth about that device?"

"Softies." Undyne looked toward Sans and Papyrus. "Are you vouching for them?"

"A-A little," Papyrus confessed. "Maybe?"

"Right, Bro."

Undyne stroked her chin and looked back at Frisky. "If more humans come, you will fight them first alone."

"That's not fair."

"Sans, I am getting tired of your mouth," Undyne warned him. "You're lazy, not disobedient. What's gotten into you?"

"Oh." Sans shrugged. "I just remember this one human who kinda didn't do anything wrong that just passed through here some time ago."

"Mmmm." Undyne looked back at Frisky, and then toward Frisk who was clinging to Sans coat . "Mmm."

"That is true! That was a good little girl," Papyrus agreed. "Or boy. It was a good human. It liked my spaghetti."

"It was good to you, too," Sans reminded Undyne yet again. " ** _Water_** ya doing about that one?"

"Fine! I'll give them one chance," Undyne said as she practically threw Frisky down. She pointed at Papyrus. "You vouch for them? Then like a pet, you're responsible for them. Bathe them, feed them, water them, everything. You and your brother. Neither of them leaves your house and they stay **shackled**. Neither will leave unless they are shackled to you. It stays locked inside like a prisoner, both of them. I don't care how cute the kid is, him too! If I even hear one of them tries to escape, they are dead! And-and even inside, I want them constantly with one of you! If you so much as mess up _once_ , they are dead. Got it?"

Emotions make for hard times. Undyne was not dealing with the losses well.

"Um? Our home would be a prison?" Papyrus asked. "Shackled up? That's cruel, Undyne. For how long?"

"As long as I say!" Undyne yelled at him. "And feel lucky that I am being this nice, Papyrus. Come with me and I'll get the shackles for you."


	5. The Frisks

_Author's Note: Quick little note, since the Frisks are going to say something that can't be helped._

 _Monster= Classic Monster. Monsters that were sealed in the Underground. They always get the big M._

 _Balancer and/or monster= Interchangeable wording. Addresses today's modern monster. They get a little m._

 _Last of all, FRISK is a team name used for that particular mission. Since everyone is authorized to use Frisk, they are all pronounced Frisk. When they personally address each other out of battle situations though, they each have their own personal 'twist' that makes them recognizable no matter what their team name is. And it's easier than remembering their identification numbers too._

* * *

A few hours earlier . . .

"Still not stable."

Friskay tried to open her eyes, but the whole world was static.

"No, no, no, Frisk KINDNESS, keep those closed! We're trying to hold onto you."

"Huh?" Friskay saw monsters in front of her, and then a flash back to her ship's crew. "Oh shit." She was caught in some kind of error. "What's going on?"

"You are currently existing within two different places," the technician in front of her said. "When you were pulled, you were also pulled into a secondary instant teleportation system of a second ship."

Fuck. "I'm going to die?" Not caring about the technician's warning, she looked beside her. Farrisk and Friskarino were both caught as well. They looked unconscious.

"Not if you don't mess around," the technician warned her. "Quit opening your eyes. Do you want to be ripped apart to exist into different pieces? We are trying to keep you together."

"Turn off communications and let us go to the other ship ya stooge!"

"The other ship is a Balancer ship."

Ooh. Ooh. Friskay gritted her teeth. "Chance of success of snagging all of us?"

"Stop talking. We will retrieve you if you shut up. The others have too hard of a signal to retrieve. We might be able to get one after we save you."

"The more signals, the worse the chances. Let me go. I will scream if I die, it should echo. If I don't, then let them go too."

"Are you nuts?"

"No, I am KINDNESS you asshole. Nothing will happen to my team if I can help it. Do it!"

"Fine. Letting go. I hope for your sake they don't eat you alive."

* * *

Friskay waited a few minutes. When she didn't feel herself being eaten she opened her eyes.

Humans. Oh thank goodness, a unity ship! She looked beside her and saw her Frisk men. "Damn, I'm good." She made her first movement and smacked them each on the back of the head. "Wake up, Guys. We survived."

"Ouch!" Friskarino grabbed the back of his head. "Oh? We survived?"

Farrisk was rubbing his head on the other side of Friskay. "Where are we?"

"A union Balancer ship. So, make with the nice." Her job was done.

After the guys schmoozed as much as possible for the interruption, they managed to get a few Multi-Player 20's. The next step was simple, head back to their ship.

But, they were humans, and they had a natural curiosity. Especially since the MP20 should have been at least ten years away in development. Besides, humans were in the room. A couple minutes. What was the harm?

"Look at the side storage. I bet we could have a couple thousand songs on there, not like twenty."

"That's nothing. Look at the social media on it. Damn, I remember there were five. Just, five that were compatible. There's like twenty now."

"First page," a human on the unity ship said. "There's over a thousand now."

"A thousand?" Farrisk breezed through them. "Whoah. Whoah! How the heck? How did that happen in just a . . . a few months. Right? Maybe a year at most?"

"Longer." Farrisk did not look at the guys happily. "Enter your mission codes."

"Why?"

"We've been _screwed_."

* * *

"Come on, let go of me!" Friskay yelled as the last two Frisks held her back.

"Just relax. Don't go nuts," Friskarino warned her. "Trust me, Sans is not going to hurt her."

"Yeah. Probably," Farrisk added as he looked at his MP20.

As the conduit FRISK, they were prohibited from having any kind of outside technology down there. Now that the mission was over, they should have only wanted to bring their last two surviving team members back. Call it good. Frisky as leader should have accepted her punishment. They should have waited until her punishment was over and then work on their next mission. Learning whatever new names they would be graced with.

Should have meant nothing now, and they would never return to their ship.

They moved back to the Underground and . . . and waited. Waited to figure out what the next move should be. They watched the battle with PERSEVERANCE and then watched Frisky and Frisk interact with Undyne, watching their fate of becoming prisoners for Sans and Papyrus.

Friskay couldn't take it anymore. "We need to get her. She's going to be killed," Friskay said, trying to fight the guys back. "Come on, Farrisk. You know as well as I do what he'll do!"

"I don't know for sure about anything. This is beyond anything I ever thought possible. There is no BRAVERY within it," Farrisk said as he continued to hold her back. "I doubt he'd ever hurt Frisk or Frisky. Sans not like that."

"Having like a hundred burgers with a guy doesn't mean you know him." Friskay stopped struggling. "Once shit goes down, what'll happen? He's gonna be _pissed_. If it were me, I know exactly what I'd do. My first stop would be to a flower and then all hell would break loose."

"I don't . . . I . . ." Farrisk looked at his twin brother. Him, his brother, and Frisk were the ones who knew Sans. None of the others really cared for the Skeleton or his jokes that much, and Frisky felt too ashamed to meet him again. "Frisky's going to be fine. Frisk is definitely going to be fine from Sans."

Friskarino kicked some of the snow. "Why would anyone create this kind of hell? Why can't they just let the Monsters know the truth? This is abuse. I thought this stuff was passed us. I thought we as humans were done with this. Learned from this."

"I know." Farrisk let go of Friskay. "You okay now? Listen, Sans would never hurt her."

"She should be with us! Not over there." Friskay kicked the snow at Friskarino. "We all know what's going to happen when he finds out. How can you stand up for him?"

"Nothing is his fault," Friskarino reminded her. "None of it."

"What he will do, will be. I guarantee, we'll all be trying to flee the Underground together. We should grab them, and take them back up."

"No, we should wait!" Friskarino shouted back. "Friskay, stop. Seriously. You're trying to blame him for something he hasn't even done yet."

"But he will. Both of you know it. Big old lovable punnable Sans is going to wipe out the human race when he finds out." Friskay looked away from their hiding spot. "Even you can't deny it. It's just a matter of time."

"Well, um, maybe . . ." Friskarino sighed. "Peace offering?"

"Balancers maybe . . . they could _maybe_ bring one back? I don't know. I mean, it's been a long time." Farrisk ticked off his fingers. "The last one went in a sour way too." He pulled out his MP10. "W.D. Gaster. Yeah, that guy. Traces of him can still be found in the Underground. I don't see how that's possible. According to this, humans weren't responsible for him."

Friskay chuckled sarcastically. "Not responsible? Okay, circumstances will let us get away with that one. It was his own fault, but seriously? Without human involvement, he never would have done it."

"Okay. Let's just focus, alright? We're PACIFISTS," Farrisk said confidently. "We don't kill. We stop and wait to understand the situation for what _it is_. Going in and grabbing them at this junction is too risky. We don't even know what Judgment Hall did. We don't really know if the Balancers can take care of whatever happened." He bit his lip and looked out in the distance. "We can't even guarantee his safety. That little six year old kid, they'll know that the world would be better off without him."

"It's not fair." Friskay sat on the ground. "Are you saying we can't do _anything_? We should just let everything get wiped out? Because that's what is going to happen. Once Sans the Skeleton finds out, Judgment Hall won't be a hall. It'll be the whole entire human race."

"You really needed to meet him more than once," Friskarino said as he sat down beside her. "You've seen him in Judgment Hall, just like everyone else, but that was because he thought his entire Underground world was ending. He thought he actually lost everyone. Lost his brother. Lost his friends. Heck, even when Frisky pulled power away from the GENOCIDER in runs, he just let it go. Even if he knew we killed his brother, he just let us go. Don't forget that."

"Friskarino's right. There's no guarantee Sans would be like you. I mean, he's not a monster, he's a Monster. He's shown in the past it takes a lot before he does anything." Farrisk placed his hand on her shoulder. "Of all the Monsters we ran into down here, he was one we never had to fight for anything. Never deceived us about anything. For any reason. Not until we hurt him that much. Frisky and Frisk are going to be fine."

"Fine. Fine! I suppose what happened is pretty big," Friskay finally conceded. "Frisk himself might be in danger, and we don't really know which Balancers to trust yet." She groaned.

"Right. We'll research. We'll find the greatest source of allies that we can. Not all monsters are created equal," Farrisk reminded her. "So, cheer up."

"I don't know." Friskarino shook his head. "I just don't know. I mean . . . maybe we can just leave them alone?"

"That is not an option!" Friskay scoffed. "Just leave them alone? Just leave them here to rot away, thinking there's no way out? That's cruel!"

"That's kind of an idea," Farrisk agreed to his brother. "All they need is one more go. There's some nasty stuff coming. One more communication with our turned ship and Frisky with FRISK. One more go, and it's over. Karma is going to bite back because there's no way Sans would ever do what was asked of him. Then Frisky and Frisk we'll be back and everything would be great."

"Humanity lives. Sans lives. Frisky and Frisk come back and everyone gets what they wanted." Friskarino just looked away. "Seriously? Don't you guys have souls? Oh wait, you do. So why not _use_ them?" He stood back up. "It's not right."

"The punny idiot gets to live his life with no more resets and with his stupid brother," Friskay said disgusted. "Life moves on. That's all he ever wanted."

"It's not right." Friskarino turned and walked away. "It's not right."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House:**

Great, just great. Sometimes being the good guy just didn't go well. Frisky looked at the shackle on her foot.

"Well, that was an interesting battle," Papyrus said as he fixed the last shackle on Frisk. "Um. Don't know how that happened, but, well. At least you're safe." He turned and walked away. "Sans! Watch them. I need to find a safe place for the keys."

"Yeah, okay."

 _That voice._ _A calming, good voice from a friend . . . as well as the one who continually butchered me over and over._ _That tone never changes._ **_Geeeettttttt_** ** _dunked_** ** _oooon_** ** _!_** She heard it all over in her head. She got Frisk back, but she was now his prisoner. _Just be careful, don't anger him._

Sans slowly approached. Frisky didn't see his face, just his black shorts and part of his blue coat from her hoodie. "Well, I guess I have a **_captive_** audience. You okay, kiddo?"

Frisk waved his hand on the side. "A little. For awhile, I couldn't talk well. I also couldn't walk well, Sans. I expected that. I feel more like myself, except for that drop. It hurt!" He rubbed his knees. "I think it's skinned."

"Skeletons don't need bandages. Good to see your back to normal though. We'll find something later," Sans said to Frisk. "How about you, are you okay? You kind of **_cut_** it close."

 _Oh great,_ _he's talking to_ _me._ Frisky just shrugged.

Sans bony hand grabbed her shoulder, making her jump slightly in surprise. He took his bony hand off her shoulder. "I know. You need a burger."

 _What?_ He didn't just seriously say that.

"Your hit points low. Hang on."

"Sans?"

Papyrus's voice. Frisky just kept her eyes ahead, knowing that the less she looked around, the better when prisoner.

"Yeah, bro?"

"Sans! What are you doing with those burgers?"

"Sharing."

"But, they are supposed to be prisoners!"

"Prisoners need to eat."

"Oh! Oh, that's right. Undyne said we had to take care of them like we would a pet." Papyrus came over and looked directly at Frisky, tilting his head slightly into her view of vision. "Look at how low you are, human. You're about as tall as Sans now. Are you really a _grown_ human?"

"Yep. Good thing she won the fight. She wouldn't be able to **_stand up_** to the competition much longer."

"Sans!" Papyrus scolded him again. He raised a hand toward his forehead. "This is no time for jokes! Do you have any idea how close I was to . . . oh, oh, nevermind." He coughed and looked at Frisky. "Uh. Do you need anything else, human?"

Sans bony hand came back into her vision again. This time, with a burger. "Here, split this with the kid."

Frisky took the burger and held it. It looked good. Like the best thing ever. It probably tasted like _forgiveness_. Oh? That, that word just popped out of her head. That couldn't be it though. She saved Papyrus, but she still didn't leave that battle with no casualties. And, he still had no idea who she had been. _Forgiveness._ _That_ _'s_ _a laugh._ _Didn't he hear my name_ _by now_ _? Why hasn't he killed me yet?_

"Oh, that annoying dog is back."

"Oh, a white dog," Frisk said as he tried to move from his mom, going as far as he could on the shackle. "Good dog."

"Sans, the prisoner is playing with the dog!"

"Well, at least it isn't a **_hot_** dog."

"Aaah! No, no! It's almost as big as you!"

Frisky continued to eat as she watched Frisk play with the dog like a normal six year old again. Although he was about the size of a two year old now. Sans didn't seem to mind, and Papyrus eventually didn't care.

"Sans!" Papyrus moved directly to his side. "I almost forgot. What are we going to do for sleeping?"

"I hear beds work well."

"Sans, I'm serious. How are we going to watch them all night?" Papyrus seemed deep in thought. "Well, perhaps . . . uhh . . .we could take shifts?"

"We don't have to watch them. We just have to be in the same room."

"Oh, but we only have two beds."

"And a couch."

"Ooh!" Papyrus tapped his foot some more. "This is a horrible idea. All of this."

"Come on, bro. It's a **_short_** term solution. We'll **_measure_** out more options tomorrow."

Frisky still didn't move too much, but she was reminded how tight the hoodie was around her mid-section now. Her body had grown worse from her original dimensions, not better.

"Uh." Payprus scratched his skull. "Well, I suppose it's the right thing considering the . . . circumstances." He looked over toward Frisky. "Okay. We'll arrange something." He looked toward Frisk. "Why does he keep rubbing his knees, Sans?"

"He's just a kiddo and Undyne basically dropped him. Come on, Papyrus."

"Mm? But the other human never got physically hurt. How bad could it be?" Papyrus moved over toward Frisk who was still playing with the dog. "I suppose you would treat a pet if it's injured."

"I **_vet_** you do."

"Oh, I will see what I can find. You're in charge, Sans. Move the couch upstairs and we can take turns guarding them at night."

"Yeah."

"I will be back! With Bandages and a book on pets! Nyeh heh heh heh!" Papyrus headed out the door.

And . . . that's when things changed.


	6. Prisoner Pets

"Come on, Frisk, you go play with the dog in my room."

Frisky heard her son laugh and a dog's bark as she heard feet go upstairs. _Well, at least he's nice enough to get_ _Fr_ _isk out of the room._

"That's better. Just in case." She could feel Sans coming closer. "Now . . . you. You don't feel right." She watched a skeletal hand appear in front of her face, and yank her hoodie back. "You saved Papyrus, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. But." He came and stood in front of her. She watched his bony hand reach out toward her chin. Part of her was preparing for the moment he yanked her head completely up, breaking her neck. But, he only nudged it up. "Stay right there." His bony hands patted each of her shoulders again. "Relax. Chill a second."

 _Sure, sure._ **_Geeeeettttt_** **_Duuuuunked_** **_oooon_** ** _!_** went straight through Frisk's head again. Gaw, he was doing that thing, making her look straight at him for answers again. Judging. _He's going to judge me_ _, and if he_ _actually_ _remembers_ _with no flukes_ _._ _Then maybe he became an official_ _G_ _uardian._ _If s_ _o, he_ _could see_ _even deeper_ _if he concentrates harder_ _. If he wants to know why a boy had souls being carried around? Oh, he is going to look hard and there's no one else to disturb his focus! Just my own soul. He'll see things he shouldn't_ _s_ _ee._ _I_ _d_ _on't_ _know if I will_ _make it out of this alive._

* * *

It. Didn't make sense. It didn't. What was he seeing? She was behind the knife. She knew Judgment Hall, but she was screaming. Behind laughing red eyes, she was screaming in torture. Then, it flipped.

To . . .

"Here." FRISK held his little hands out to the surface. "We're free!"

Sans looked around at the vast wilderness and sky. "Wow, we really did it? You really managed to do it, kid. Hey, look at that big ball of fire. That's the sun, right?"

"Yep, Sans."

"Wow. Hey, Papyrus, check out the sun."

"It's like a big old ball of firey fire!" Papyrus said. "Wowie! The Sun! I will never forget that name!"

Toriel asked the little boy if he wanted to stay with her, but he declined, saying there was somewhere else to be. He was asked about being ambassador, but he declined that too.

"I promise, I will come back to see everyone though." FRISK looked over toward Sans. "I know you didn't care so much about it, but doesn't it feel right to be here?" He laughed and patted Sans coat. "I will _never_ have to reset again!"

"I will never have to reset again." That kid said that. It was more vibrant than he'd ever heard before. Than he ever _remembered_ hearing. Different dialogue. There was a different dialogue with them, not the rehashed words he learned to use over and over.

Then he saw Judgment Hall, this time the kid slamming on MERCY.

 _I'll endure. I can do this and keep control. If he just chooses mercy. Just choose mercy. If he just chooses mercy . . . before_ _PERSEVERANCE_ _takes control again. Oh, I don't want this, not again. Not everyone. I don't, I don't, just reset already!_ _Aaaah_ _, dodge, dodge, dodge,_ _dodge_ _! No, I can't do_ _it,_ _I won't strike him, shut up! Trapped, forever trapped._ _Forever trapped._ _Forever trapped._

 _"I will never have to reset again_ _!_ _"_

 _Forever trapped._

* * *

Sans was bending so far over her, he was practically on top of her! Then, he clapped his skeletal hands like an epiphany. "I got it." He chuckled. Seriously, he chuckled? "I get it now. Sorry, fear and shame are tangled up deep inside, and it took time to unwind the whole hell in your head. And there is a lot of _hell in your head_. Well. I've been trying to figure out what to call you, buddy."

 _Buddy?_

"You're part of the kiddo."

Kiddo? Was he really going to start calling her Kiddo again? "Partly."

"More than partly, pal. Everything I saw, the words used, that wasn't _rehashed_." Sans patted her on the head like she were a child.

As she let him pull her up, she really took notice of his eye sockets. They were filled with nothing but the old Sans she once met. Not the one that was going to hurl her a hundred feet away and spike her spine with bones. Just the one that liked to drink straight ketchup once upon a time. "Good." Great. He didn't want to kill her, fantastic. If he could just stop dwelling on her now.

"It's . . . not going to be easy to remember I killed you a thousand different ways," Sans said. "But, uh . . ."

Why was he stopping and starting? Frisky didn't understand. Didn't really want to understand.

"I don't remember any of that though." He still seemed 'off'.

Okay. _Please drop this. Go back to_ _Fr_ _isk, go check up on something._

"Frisk has memories too, but he has a lot more of the good."

 _Okay, really. When is he going to turn away already?_

"Lot more. Like nothing but good. Like actually nothing but **me**."

 _Oh, freaking . . ._

"Hmmmm." And he walked off.

* * *

That. He didn't have a routine established for each new reset because he didn't remember. He didn't replay lines in his head. She must have been that one. The first. _I don't remember everything I saw in her head._ _But_ _. . ._

Every scene he saw in her head was just of him constantly killing her, screaming and mercy. Every one, except the beginning. He saw him. He saw Undyne. He saw things he didn't even know happened, but then nothing. No different versions of Grillby's. No different conversations. That only meant one thing.

 _Frisk_ _y_ _refused to ever meet me again except in Judgment Hall, with mercy?_ Sans scratched his shoulder bone. He never even remembered meeting Frisky, and the only one he knew was her son? _Okay. I wanted_ _to_ _make time move again_ _so that every day was a new surprise. Guess this is what I asked for._

Frisk. Frisky. That other human that was destroyed. All the body parts. The ghostly spirit. He couldn't wait to hear how this one turned out.

He went back in toward Frisky. "So. How is it a bunch of humans get stuck into one kid? That doesn't just happen randomly."

Oh. _He is starting to get it._ "The FRISK you knew completely, is . . . as a whole, gone. We were all one. The um, the guy I fought. He was part of us too."

"Don't miss that side, that's for sure." Sans seemed a little more depressed. "But, I guess I got the best sides. Playful." He gestured over toward his room where the dog barked and Frisk laughed again. "And determination. Determined enough to remember more resets than me." He shrugged. "We're covering that one later." He didn't seem half as depressed anymore. "Ooh, Papyrus! Almost forgot." He gestured toward his door and it swung open. Out came Frisk and the dog floating out with his blue magic toward the front of the couch. "Stay out of the way, both kiddos." He lifted the couch with his magic and shoved it into his room. "There. Uh." He looked toward Frisky. "Don't tell anyone how much magic I actually have, okay? They'll make me start doing . . . stuff."

"Sans!" Papyrus said as he burst through the door. "I've got the bandages, and I found a book on pet keeping."

"Cool." Sans went over to his brother and checked out the book. "I suppose humans are close enough to pets."

Now that was just annoying. _Pet? I don't know if that's better or worse than prisoner._

Papyrus looked toward Frisky. "That hoodie is too tight around the waist, it looks like it wants to pop off soon." He looked into the book. "It doesn't say anything about pets wearing clothes. I suppose we should take them off."

Was he serious? Frisky watched Papyrus approach her, and she backed up.

"Think they'll probably be fine, Papyrus," Sans piped up.

"But how fragile are these humans supposed to be?" Papyrus asked Sans. "They already need bandages from a _light_ fall. It looks like that outfit thing is pressing into its skin. I don't want to pay money for a vet, Sans."

Frisky just rubbed her face. Oh gaw. She backed up further from her shackle ball.

"It'll come ** _round_** to wearing different clothes."

He and Papyrus were making a point clear. That hoodie was really tight on her. It was almost like a long dress now as low as it went but it was practically cutting into her mid-section. But, a hoodie or nothing but misplaced echo flowers. Not a tough choice.

"Okay, then. We will skip that for now. Um, the little human is still playing with that annoying dog?" Papyrus groaned. "Well, I suppose that is pet play? Yes." He marked it off with glee. "We are already doing something right! Nyeh heh heh!" He walked around, studying the book. "Oh, Undyne will be so proud of me. I will have the best prison pets around, she'll have to advance me even faster to join the Royal Guard." Papyrus looked back toward Frisk. "Make sure it doesn't fall over its own ball and shackle. Injury, injury, avoid injury. I will see what to do about the sleeping arrangements. And good job for moving the couch, Sans. Initiative, yes!" Papyrus handed Sans the bandages. "Here, you can help."

Sans watched as his brother sailed upstairs. "He always gets happy when he feels like he's doing something." He moved over toward Frisk on the floor. "Okay, here." Frisk took the bandages and sat down on the ground. His shirt practically covered his whole body, so he kicked his legs out from it.

The top of his foot and part of his knee didn't look the same at all. They were red and purple, a far cry from the skin color.

"Any white stuff?" Frisk asked. "It'll help it heal faster."

White stuff? Sans just shook his head, figuring he meant healing gel.

"Well. Okay. No big deal." Frisk took some bandages, but even those couldn't cover up all the weird colors. He moved himself back up, his whole body hidden beneath the shirt again. "Thanks, Sans. Don't forget about mom." He handed the bandages back.

"Part of the territory," Frisky answered. "I'm fine."

Sans came over anyway. The nicer he was to Frisky, the less she'd see him as the impenetrable force that kept killing her in Judgment Hall. No matter what her story was, he'd already had an extra deep look inside. _Really_ deep look inside. He didn't even know he could look so deep inside . . . but she was good. She even saved Papyrus. Without her there, his brother would be dead right now. He handed her the bandages. "Here."

She still wasn't grabbing them. "Trust me, I'm fine."

"Come on, kiddo, take it." Sans answered. "Not a choice."

Frisky sighed lowly, but she didn't push him. She sat on the ground and pulled the hoodie up enough to expose her legs.

Most of her skin was a completely different shade of color, with deep cut marks in it too. _That's_ _Undyne's_ _marks?_ She took a little bandage and placed it on a random place, then covered her legs back up, handing him the bandages. Those little bandages weren't going to do anything for her. _She got that from_ _Undyne's_ _little push to get out of the way?_ Then what did her neck look like? What did her arms look like? Her tight clothing made it too tight to check.

* * *

Well. Prisoner or not, Frisk was _really_ talkative. He may have stayed short, but it looked like he was acting closer to his age. He could walk and run. He even spoke real well, and it looked like his memory was resurfacing a little more. That kid was hungry too, he ate two full cold Grillby burgers.

It looked like that was it for the transformation too. That shirt was never gonna fit that kid, they'd have to get something new for him. Same with the hoodie on his mom, Frisky. it was almost choking her mid-section.

"What about the clothes, Sans?" Papyrus touched his bony finger on his chinbone. "I think I have something for the big one, but . . . no, I don't. She's gotten umm . . ."

"Fat." He watched Frisky's attention pop back toward him on instinct. Good. More annoyance. With enough practice he'd have all the shame and fear of him converted into annoyance by the end of his next nap.

"That's not the term. But, uh, wider?" She shot Papyrus the same look. "Maybe that's not it either."

"I think she's **_busting at the seams_** for the answer."

"Oh, just go upstairs and get her a shirt or coat or something!"

Frisky yanked at the bottom of the shirt Sans had let her borrow. Fancy little number that said 'It was me'. Oh, yeah. It was a real oversized shirt too because there weren't any shorts that fit. While she was the right height of Sans, she only gained a good extra twenty pounds and Sans was a broad skeleton. Only a shirt was an option. _Maybe it's temporary._ This wouldn't make it as easy to dodge attacks. She wouldn't have survived the attack PERSEVERANCE had inflicted on Papyrus without the locket.

"Frisk? Come here." She was not the mathematician of the group, but PATIENCE was gone. Frisky had to do her own mathematical guessing. Frisk came over to his mom and stood beside her. She whispered a few things to herself and measured down a few spades to where he was at. It couldn't be a coincidence that her body adjusted to Sans _exact_ height. He was in the line of the program when they broke apart. It must have took some of his data.

Which meant Frisk's calculations would be matching her height by about a third. Which meant, he wouldn't get much taller, and neither would she. "You're probably not going to change shape much until we get back home."

"Oh. Well, at least I can ride their dog," Frisk said as he chuckled at the dog on the floor.

"We do not have a dog. He just came into the house somehow. Again." Papyrus patted his head. "This has been a stressful shift for me. I am calling it good. I am going to bed." The dog barked after him. "No, you cannot follow me upstairs. You are for pet play, but you are not ours." It followed him upstairs anyway. "No, you cannot come into my room!" It snuck in before he closed the door.

Frisk just laughed. "He's funny. I _kind of_ remember him more." He looked over toward Sans. "I remember puzzles. He does them a lot."

"That's my bro," Sans answered. "He loves puzzles."

"Yeah and he likes something else," Frisk said, clearly in thought. "What is it?"

"Spaghetti."

"Oh yeah, spaghetti."

"Did someone mention my spaghetti?" Papyrus questioned as he carried the dog back out of his room.

"Uh, no," Sans covered quickly. "Good sleep, bro."

"Well. Well!" Papyrus stuck his hand in the air. "I will fix my spaghetti tomorrow for everyone!"

"That'll be incredibly unforgettable for you." Sans grabbed both of their balls on their shackles. "Follow the leader."

Going up the stairs in shackles wasn't fun, but at least they were long enough that they had enough length to drag a bit. When they reached upstairs, he put the balls with its attached chains back down.

"Goodnight, Sans!" Frisk hugged him on the leg. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep, yep. Be good, kid. I'm first watch, but I uh, have something to do downstairs. If Papyrus asks, I just left a second."

* * *

Sans didn't care too much about anything. Especially after resetting all the time, but he was shook up more than usual. _I could have lost him today. This time, I would have had to ask for a reset to get him back, but that would bring the whole_ _FRISK_ _thing back, meaning . . ._ yeah, it wasn't a choice. Not to mention, there were probably more of those things out there. But this timeline, he had something new on his side.

Frisky. Instead of destroying his world, she could help save it. She had the ability to knock out the invincibility humans carried. Undyne already lost some guards, but that was far from genocide. _Just keep your_ _eye_ _so_ _ckets_ _open. Anyone lost this time is lost for good._

Sans moved through the house, trying to think. He nor his brother pointed out all the things on Frisky, but she was covered on the neck with deep scratches from Undyne. Her arms were red and marked. And having a shirt instead of that overgrown hoodie had exposed even more marks on the top of her legs.

The whole FRISK never had any injuries. It never bled once, even when it died. Maybe that was why multiple souls went in, to avoid the fragility humans faced down there? If only his powerful magic could help heal. _Okay, what's wrong with you? You've killed her over a thousand times and never blinked._ Yeah, but he never had to deal with the consequences of what happened to the human body. Even that guy tonight . . . it just stayed there. Humans didn't turn to dust, they just left a grisly mess behind.

Thoughts came back to his mind about the times he managed to hit her before resets. Ouch. Bones shattering through the skin. He didn't want her to keep thinking of him in that light. That was him when he was desperate. When he was fighting evil. Not . . . not her or Frisk. "We don't have anything. I guess she'd need, uh, white stuff," he said, remembering what Frisk asked for. They would need healing gel.

Well, at least she was safely at his place. Prisoner, but not dying or trapped in a cell that Undyne felt fit to put them in. That fish sure could be blind at times. Oh well. At least he gave them a few minutes of privacy. Papyrus was going to make sure they got absolutely _none_ _,_ wanting to make sure he got the job done right, so he'd have to make some wiggle room here and there.

* * *

Frisk sank into the couch and punched it. "Ah, oh no, the enemy. Don't worry, I'll save the day everyone!" He punched the couch more.

Frisky laughed and picked him up. Hm. Even though she had changed, she seemed to have even more strength than she did before. "Now, how do you deal with enemies?" She picked him up and put him over her shoulders. She pretended to point to a menu. "Hit ACT and try talk before doing anything else."

"I thought we were supposed to check attack and defense?"

"You can do that too. Try it." She pretended to point to ACT. "Oh, your opponent is the mysterious creature named 'Couch'. Now, look at your opponent. What's it say about them?"

"It says?" Frisk thought about it. "It says others like to sit on it. But it wants to sit on someone for a change."

"Uh-oh. Oh no, I think the couch is going to try to sit on you." Frisky balanced her son on her shoulders as she moved to the left, then the right. "Watch for the attacks." Frisk just laughed. "Okay, now what?"

"I hit ACT and talk. I tell it I won't sit on it."

"Oh look, it's happy about that. Uh oh, just dodge to the right a little." Frisky moved over to the right some. "Oh look, now what happened?"

"It's smiling," Frisk said as his mom brought him back down. "Can I spare it now?"

"Yep. It'll go away now." Frisky patted his head. "You did good."

"I know, I'm cool." Frisk laughed as he looked up at his mom. "I like you this close to the ground with me."

Sans had been near the door, hearing them. _The mysterious couch_. _Ha_ _ha_ , _I was right, this pair isn't too bad._

"Yeah. Well. We may fluctuate some, but we'll be stuck like this."

"Even when we get back to the surface?"

"We might be able to fix it, but I don't know for sure."

"But mom, the mission was supposed to be all worked out. No flaws."

"Well, we weren't released the right way."

"How were we released?"

 _Uh oh._ Frisky wasn't going to tell Frisk, was she? He didn't need the kid to start being afraid of him too.

"I don't remember anything, except all kinds of bad stuff . . . and Sans was there, and I didn't see you and-"

"Don't worry about it. Don't think about it. It's _over_. You know what? Don't worry about this different size thing. You and I are fine. That's all that matters."

"Right! Finding Sans and a place to sleep tonight fills me with DETERMINATION."

Sans stepped back into the room. "Tomorrow you might actually have someone watching you sleep half the night. Papyrus takes his work seriously." Sans sat on the couch and stretched. "Luckily, I don't." He laid his skeleton body down on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Alright, come into the bed, Frisk."

"It feels weird sleeping at this time."

"When in Rome. Come on, Hon. Bedtime."

Sans barely watched them as they went down to sleep. Hm. He probably should have asked some questions, there was a _ton_ he wanted to know. But they were stuck together anyhow, he'd had one heck of a day, and tomorrow would show up like it was supposed to. Then the next day . . . and then the next day . . .

Still, his eyes lingered on Frisky's arms after they went to sleep. She had her son wrapped up close in her clearly sore arms. His wriggling wasn't going to help them. _Yep. They are fine._

Funny having two Frisks. Even funnier was how similar their names were. Talk about confusing too, he'd probably come up with his own nicknames for them later. Maybe something punny that would drive Papyrus crazy.

Well, tomorrow.


	7. I've Been Petted!

**Morning:**

Getting up for his shift, Sans got off the couch, but almost missed Frisk who had already been up. "Oh. Papyrus will figure out the next part. I gotta get to work."

Frisk tried to come over, but he was to the door and the ball and chain only went so far. "I can't sleep at this time as well. Can I go with you?"

"Uh." Sans shrugged. "Fine." He went over and grabbed the ball. Maybe he could get some answers from him. "It'll be boring."

"I'm present and _here_ , Sans! Nothing I do is boring, even if I do nothing!" Frisk answered as he almost hopped too far forward for Sans.

What did he mean by that? "Easy, kiddo, this is one attachment you can't break," Sans warned him. "I'll go first. You follow."

"Hey, Sans!"

"Hey there, Sans."

Sans waved to everyone he passed.

"You're popular," Frisk said. "Why are you so popular?"

Popular? "I've just known everyone my entire life, kid."

"Oh. That sounds cool. To know everyone, and be treated nice by everyone." Frisk bit his lip. "I wish we could stay."

"You are for now." There was no choice in that.

"So, are we going to live with you forever?" Frisk smiled as he swung his arm more as they walked. "I think it would be great."

"Uh." Sans stopped. "Buddy? Do you remember any other monster _besides_ me? At all?" Did Frisky really only avoid Sans, and no one else?

"Not super much." Frisk stopped swinging San's arm. "It's like a really deep sleep when a bunch of souls are inside me. Momma usually makes sure I stay 'super dee duper asleep', unless you're around."

"Okay, but when you landed down here, was it an accident?" Sans stood by his post. There were a lot of signals that it wasn't, but sometimes kids had the most information they could spill.

"Of course not. I knew I'd eventually come here, Sans." Frisk sighed as he started to swing Sans' hand back and forth again. "My entire life. I wouldn't even be alive if I wasn't a conduit."

"What's a conduit?"

"The special kid that all the other souls go into. A true child has to be the shape." Frisk looked toward Sans. "Sorry, I forgot. Monsters don't have as good of technology."

"Sounds like you know all about this place."

"Yep! If we reached the barrier after falling, then humanity was going to take off the barrier. But, it's really _stupid_. It's better here. Although, when we go back, we'll be freed soon. I think," Frisk said. "We'll be able to live in a domicile, and no one would be stabbing me with needles anymore all the time to make sure I could hold other souls."

 _Yeah, keep talking kid_. "Go on."

"I mean, you know . . ." Frisk groaned. "I _feel_ too! But, it's like people don't remember that. I don't have anything really to even live for except for people to take over my body. I'm not worth anything to anyone, except for my mom. I have DETERMINATION to keep going for her." Frisk pulled himself into the booth area. "My mom's the best, Sans. Most moms that get selected just have their conduit and leave for freedom, but she refused. None of my friends have moms. But, my momma stayed with me, renounced her name and status, and she passed DETERMINATION tests to make sure she could be one of the top leaders on the missions I had to take. It's a good thing 'cause momma said this mission got really corrupted."

"That's putting it lightly." Still, Sans couldn't even try to sleep a wink today. This kid was _radiating_ new information like crazy. "Conduit. Sounds bad."

"Major bad," Frisk said. "So, can we stay your prisoners forever and _not_ return home? Plllleeeease?"

"You'd rather be stuck inside a house, with me, dragging around a large ball with chains . . . you know what, I see your point." Humanity _sucked_. "Think I'd prefer that to your conduit life too."

Frisk continued to jump in and out of the booth like it was the greatest thing in the world. It got to be annoying, but Sans couldn't say anything. The kid always had **_souls_** stuck inside his body, controlling him. He deserved to use his own body for a change.

While the kid did that though, his cell went off. "Hello?"

"Sans! You have the little human, right?"

"Yep."

"Oh good, oh good! Don't do that to me, my bones were shaking! Ask before you just take the human pets out of the house."

"Okay, bro. Anything else?"

"Nope! Just going to follow the book, and then I will bring the big human to work with me I suppose. Oh, how annoying. Things I do for humans."

Sans was about to hang up when he heard Frisk's stomach growl. Kid was probably hungry. He should do something to show he wasn't a tyrant of a prison guard, and he did owe Frisk something nice for basically saving them from genocide. Why not? "Before you do that, meet me at Grillby's with her."

"What?! Sans, no way!"

* * *

"Four burgs," Sans spoke up for them. He wanted to treat everyone to a burger. Cold burgers were good, but the warm burgers were the absolute best. It took some more of his GOLD, and it wasn't going to reset just like the rest of life, so he'd have to be less casual with it soon. But, one more good go until he was down to spaghetti and hot dogs.

He never thought hanging out with two souls inside of an unfeeling monster that kept destroying his world . . . would be something he liked. But, it just was. Maybe it was seeing that the evil was dismantled. Maybe it was feeling the goodness in Frisk instead of sensing something wrong that laid his troubles to rest. Maybe it was learning about how FRISK had been good and evil at the same time. Who knew?

Him and Frisk down to Grillby's was easy, but convincing Papyrus to bring Frisky was another thing. He had to promise he wouldn't make any puns about spaghetti for dinner. Papyrus couldn't turn down that deal, so he took off too.

"Grillby's. I always remember this place." Frisk looked over at Sans. "Can I have fries this time?"

"Sure, you only live once. Now anyhow," Sans answered back. "Make that three burgs and one fry, Grillby." Then, he heard Frisk laugh. What was funny about that? He looked over at Frisk, who was laughing at his mom.

Who was changing shape again. This time, her width was adjusting. And the shirt that was his that used to fit okay, was now not fitting so okay. One part barely stayed on her shoulder, while the other side couldn't even stay on her shoulder. It didn't show anything indecent, but it got close. Frisky started to fidget with it, trying to bring the shoulder back up, but the other side would just start to fall down.

"Momma, you look funny." Frisk tapped on Sans. "Doesn't mom look funny?"

Sans glanced around. Frisk wasn't the only one who noticed Frisky's transformation again. Oof. When had his favorite spot become so uncomfortable?

When Frisky and the other souls were running Frisk's body, he was still _just a kid_. No one blinked twice. Frisky though wasn't a human _kid_. Human or not, guys in there were really staring at her. Her outfit was not helping things either. Even if it was a hilarious shirt, it didn't put off any stares.

"It's a human, get her!"

Yeah. One more fun thing. Before Papyrus and him could even say anything, Dogamy grabbed Frisk and flung her outside of Grillby's toward Dogaressa. Ugh.

Oh. Royal Guard. Frisky turned around after being slung out of Grillby's. It was so tough, it made her ball and chain come with her too. Really? She thought they all got the order she was a prisoner. Or was it changed? She tried to fix her shirt shoulder again. They even pulled her into an encounter, outside of Grillby's. **DETERMINATION:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "Can you guys just chill for a little while?"

 **DOGAMY:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "No, your human!" Dogamy insisted.

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT** **:** **Joke.** "I'm not human," Frisky insisted. "Look at me. I'm a gnome."

 **DOGAMY:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "You're a what?" Dogamy growled.

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT** **:** **Flirt.** "A gnome. Humans aren't this small. They're tall like Papyrus," she said quickly. "I mean, if I was a human kid, I'd be this small. But look at me, do I really look like a _kid_ , fella?" She winked and clicked her tongue for good measure.

 ***** **Dogamy** **is blushing.**

"Uuh." Dogamy looked over at Dogaressa who wasn't giving him nice looks right now. "Dearest? Humans are taller, except kids. Right?" She was still not giving him kind eyes. He looked back at FriskY. **DOGAMY** **:** **ACT** **:** **Talk.** "I don't believe you. Prove you're a gnome!"

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT** **:** **Joke.** Frisky shrugged. "I look incredibly good on lawns."

 **DOGAMY: ACT: Talk.** "Gnomes have beards!"

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT** **:** **Talk** **.** "That's stereotyping, Sir."

"Sans," Papyrus warned him as he came to the door with Frisk's ball and chain. "Don't forget your prisoner. Undyne will be upset."

Sans couldn't help himself. He knew he wasn't supposed to laugh, but Frisky was funny. She was failing miserably, Dogamy and Dogaressa didn't know anything about human sizes, but they did know that gnomes didn't exist in the Underground. But, it didn't make it any less funny. She was even making Dogaressa mad at Dogamy.

Still, it was just them. The only real one to watch out for was Doggo. Besides him, there should be no other Royal Guards who didn't know the new rule. The rest were already gone.

"You two, stop making a mess of this!" Papyrus yelled at them. "She is our prisoner! Notice the ball attached to her footing? Undyne gave the order!"

"Oh, Undyne?" Dogamy answered. **DOGAMY:** **ACT: Talk**. "Okay, if she is already prisoner."

Frisky just shrugged. **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Flirt.** "Too bad I suppose. Would have been fun to play fetch with me, wouldn't have it?"

 ***** **Dogamy** **blushes again.**

 **MERCY.** **Spare.** "Get out of here," Dogaressa said as she looked at Dogamy, "and you, stop blushing!"

"Oh, sweetheart. Love of my life," Dogamy said as he walked off with Dogaressa. "Honey?"

Sans moved back over to Frisky's ball and chain to pick it up and go back in. Papyrus did the same with Frisk.

"You should be more careful," Papyrus warned her. "Human, you've no idea what things are out there. You need to stop being so rambunctious, and getting into stuff that doesn't concern you!"

Welp, at least they could all get back to eating. Or not. Why did Frisky feel dog drool over her shoulder? She looked back and saw Doggo, slobbering on her. _Oh. Yeah._ _Fantastic._

"Will you go away already!" Papyrus demanded. "We are eating, and the humans are our prisoners. Will you stop drooling on her?"

"She's under me? Why are you so short?" Doggo demanded from over her shoulder. He smelled her hair lightly. "I know humans are taller. Much taller, and I can tell you're not a child. You should be brought to Undyne for questioning. Are you still there?"

"She is fine! They come in many sizes," Papyrus added. "For the last time, she is already our prisoner so it doesn't matter whether she's child or adult. Stop annoying us."

Frisky tried to concentrate on her own burger. It was nice to have a warm burger. It had been a very long time since she had one. Plus, she knew that days of unhealthy food weren't going to work as well since time stopped resetting. She would have to ignore the drooling dog for now. Which was still there. Drooling. _It could be completely in my head, but . . ._ He wasn't trying to look down her shirt, was he? He wouldn't. Royal Guard. Curious. Monster. _In my head, it's in my head. Monsters don't like humans. Besides, he's usually pretty blind._

Sans hadn't said a word. He didn't want to get involved. He just wanted to chill with his burger. Papyrus was handling it. But. This. Was. Ridiculous. _Can't I just enjoy my first_ _full_ _day of no_ _resetting_ _?_ But, nope. His brother was clueless as ever. Frisky wasn't catching the subtlety of the 'blind dog'. She may not have been moving from her seat, but she was eating, so she really _was_ moving. Doggo was being a real dog.

Sans couldn't just let that go on, but direct confrontation was never his style. "Nice burger. Lovely day for some yummy catsup too." He held the catsup up to his mouth. "Nothing better than catsup. Oops." He 'accidentally' squirted it the wrong way. "Hey, sorry about that," Sans chuckled at Doggo as he backed up and tried to get the catsup out of his eyes. "Maybe you should go **_catsup_** with the other guards." Frisk just laughed.

"Sans!" Doggo complained as he rubbed his eyes more.

"Sans!" Papyrus scolded him. "Watch where you are facing your catsup!"

"Sorry." Sans shrugged as he went back to his catsup. "I was distracted by Frisky moving all over the place."

"I'm not mo . . ."

Yep, she got it. She moved up closer to the counter, and her cheeks were glowing a pinkish hue.

"How come you're blushing, mom?" Frisk asked her. "Mom?"

"I'm not leaving far. We're just not hunting them right _now_ since King Asgore killed one and it didn't free us," Doggo answered. "We'll eventually be back to trying, and we'll have two guinea pigs ready."

Frisky was doing something Sans didn't like the look of. He didn't sense anything wrong. She wouldn't, but she was slowly taking a knife out of its sheath from on the counter. Not a surprise she managed to stash that. Papyrus didn't check her, too busy with shackles and thinking of rules last night. And him, he just didn't care all that much.

Now he should have cared. _No way. You're better than that._ _It's not worth it for whatever friend that may have been._

But, Frisky left the knife on the table. He watched as she turned around to Doggo with the sheath. "See the stick, boy? See the stick?" She stood up. "Ooh, it's not a regular stick. It's a shiny stick. A thick stick! Ooh, it's a special stick! Come on, boy, you want the stick?"

"Oh, boy, oh, boy!" Doggo couldn't help himself.

"You want the stick boy, you want it?" Frisky asked him again. "Be a good boy, then. Sit."

Doggo sat on the ground, wagging his tail as his eyes followed the moving stick.

Frisky kept moving it repeatedly. "Ooh, what a stick! Look at that stick! Grr, ooh, it'd be so good to get the teeth on it, huh? Ooh, look at that texture, I bet that will feel good! What'll you do for it, boy? Huh?"

"Aaah, anything!" He yelled as he wagged his tail back and forth.

"Roll over then. Roll over, boy!" Frisky kept moving the stick. "To the left. To the right. Yay! Can you clap hands?" She held her hand out. "Come on, clap my hand. Ooh, there's a good boy! Ooh, who's a goody good boy?"

"Don't, don't, don't, don't!" Papyrus warned Sans, but Frisk was already cracking up, trying to hold onto Sans for support. "Don't laugh!"

"I can't do it!" Sans started to beat his hands on the counter. FRISK had petted and played with the dogs a little in the past, but this was _hilarious_. Frisky was getting revenge by showing how petty and easily manipulated Doggo was in a restaurant, where _anyone_ could see him. _Nobody_ could resist.

"Ooooh, such a good booooyyyy!" Frisky said as he finished rolling over. "On the floor. Down on all fours." Doggo got down on all fours. "There you go, sit by me, there you go big boy." She petted him right beside her seat as she went back to her burger.

"I've been petted!" His hind leg moved up and down as he sat on the floor beside her. "Pit! Pat! Pot! Pet!"

Sans couldn't help it. "Well, I think Frisky got herself her own **_doggy_** bag."

"Sans!" But even his brother couldn't hide the fact that it was kind of funny. He was practically squirming. The rest of the restaurant lost it's cool a long time ago. In fact, some Monsters were coming in just to see what the fuss was.

Best. Revenge. Ever. " ** _Dog_** gone shame he can't come home with us, huh, Papyrus?" Sans asked.

"Sans!"

"He'll be too **_dog_** tired," Frisk added.

"Good one, kid." Sans said he finished his burger. Well, it looked like burgers was a good idea after all.


	8. Undyne

Papyrus held Frisky's ball and chain as he took her somewhere else different. Frisky had always thought she'd seen everything in San's and Papyrus' house. There was always a new surprise in each playthrough of the Underground though, and this was just another one.

A small bathroom, right behind a right balcony in the house. Apparently, Sans wasn't the only one who knew how to take shortcuts because there wasn't even a door to get over to the balcony. From what Frisky could see, there was nothing except one tub, one counter, one toilet and tiled walls. That was it. Plain, simple, and just a glass balcony door. Someone who wasn't Sans or Papyrus would have had to leap up to the balcony to make their way into the area.

Well, when someone's gotta potty. At least there was one entrance. She doubted there was a big demand for it since Monster food didn't go all the way through digestion.

"First, there are steps that must be taken before we get into a daily ritual of feed and water," Papyrus started.

 _Seriously, Papyrus._ _I am not a pet. First he thinks I'm a rock, and now a pet._ _Undyne_ _, why did you have to say that?_ _And then Sans just had to say humans were close enough to pets._ _Urg_ _._ She kept quiet though. There was no reason to aggravate her jailer. Papyrus was naturally sweet-hearted, whether he wanted to be or not.

"First, we don't really have a nearby vet, so we can't get shots yet. That and I don't know what shots humans need, so that will be kept for later." He turned the paper. "However, those wounds must be treated, and I must groom and shower you at least once a week." He put the paper down and went over to the bathtub. He added some kids' bubble bath into it and turned on the water. "Right, now over here."

Frisky looked toward gauze and gels strewn across a small counter. "First we get the gels on you, and then you can take a bath!" He grabbed some of the gels and rubbed them on her shoulders and around her legs. "There we go, you look much better! See, the magical healing of healing gels! You have probably never seen this, have you human?"

Wow. "No." But amazing. Frisky couldn't believe how fast healing gels had worked. Her whole body looked and felt like she didn't even have a scratch. Monster magic, it was so incredible sometimes. "Thank you very much, The Great Papyrus."

Papyrus was beaming after she used his full name. "Yes, it truly was a brilliant idea by me! And because you have been so good, here is more of my wonderful intelligence for you. You should never eva eva eva eva use healing gels right after an ouchie. It will create an even worse ouchie. Remember that, human." He brought out a small diagram of a human child. "Now, I have a diagram so that you can be accurate in bathing."

A bath would actually be kind of nice. It had been some time since she bathed her own body. Frisky made a gesture for him to turn around. "Could you turn around for a few seconds?"

"I suppose, human, but I will not be far."

"No!"

Papyrus and her both tensed up as they heard that voice. Undyne was staring at them through the glass door. She opened it and proceeded inside.

"You." Undyne gestured toward Frisky. "You come into our town when we didn't ask for you or your help." She looked toward Papyrus. "Get on with it, and do not cower to commands of the human!"

"Um, but, uh . . ."

"What? You want me to do it? Fine, I will." Undyne commanded him outside the bathroom and locked the door. She moved over toward the counter. "Oh, look. Healing gels. Papyrus wants to help his pet feel better, huh? Does he actually believe his pet is injured?"

This was so not good. At least Frisk was out of the house.

"Let's get you all taken care of." Undyne fiddled around on the counters. "Let's see, that's interesting. All kinds of healing gels. Because that's what you actually need. Yeah, right." She turned away from the gels. "Humans _neve_ r have to heal. You are trying to make him feel sorry for you, like you're hurt, so you can sneak away! The one I battled with never even got a scratch, you can't fool me. Why did you show up here conveniently when the other human did?"

Uh. Frisky tried to keep it together. _Undyne_ _is great. She wanted to be the best_ _bestie_ _ever. She's a good Monster._ _Just_ _susp_ _icious_ _._ Still, Undyne was out for blood more than once, and this time, she lost two guards. She really had an anger streak.

Undyne came over by Frisky, touching her along her shoulders. "Don't be scared, human. If you're innocent and honest, then there's nothing to fear."

Frisky felt herself getting pulled into an encounter. And in such a small area. Oh no!

 **UNDYNE: ACT: Talk:** "Now, like I said, why did you conveniently show up when the other human did?"

Frisky looked at her options. _Confess?_ Oh great. At least she still had talk. **DETERMINATION: ACT: Talk.** "My son, Frisk. I came looking for him."

 **UNDYNE: ACT: Talk:** "The little human that Sans and Papyrus were taking care of, I heard about that. And how did they get a hold of him?"

 **DETERMINATION: ACT:** **Talk.** "I don't know exactly." Frisky knew her time was running out. Undyne couldn't pull out spears, that weapon would reach across the room. Right?

 **UNDYNE: ACT: Talk:** "Uh huh. Sure. You left your kid out right by their area on purpose. Confess!" She yelled. "Now, listen, and listen good! I have met one good human, and four **_very bad humans_**."

Uh oh. Frisky didn't know she had actually met others. She had always assumed that FRISK as a whole was the only one she had met. When did she meet others?

 **UNDYNE: ACT: Talk:** "The good human was just a child, while all the other three were full-grown humans. You know what that means? That means that I'm not going to harm your son. Just like the other good one, I believe children are young enough to learn. To change. I won't harm him unless he really messes up. But, it's clear to me that adult humans do not change! So, prove me wrong!"

Frisky tried to move as quickly as possible, but as a mere human, the damage was swift and done. Undyne did not throw any more spears besides one. Probably too stunned by what happened.

"What in the-you didn't heal? You didn't die yet, but you didn't heal?" Undyne approached her steadily. Frisky hardly moved. "Oooooh . . . you're not like the others." She heard Undyne clamoring around over by the counter. She tried to look up, and felt something hit her back. "That is going to suck for you later. Painful scars. You aren't supposed to apply healing gel that fast, but I still don't know if you're innocent or not so . . . that healing gel saved your life. But . . . well, serves your kind right for what you've been doing! Now, stand up, weakling."

Frisky felt herself being forced to stand.

"You are so incredibly lucky Papyrus had healing gel here. Now you won't die, but, it won't exactly . . . hmm. Well, you're going to suffer. You can get more healing gel later, but it will be even more painful, so . . . suffer! Suffer until you can prove your innocence to me!"

 _Damn._ If she had been FRISK, she could have proved her innocence. She could have had a fight with Undyne, and then either avoided all attacks, convinced her with enough talking, or brought her back to hotlands for a nostalgic feeling that would make her see reason.

That was how Undyne worked. That fight should have been the end of the imprisonment.

Well. At least she didn't die.

* * *

"Oh. Hello, Sans," Papyrus' voice sounded strange as Sans and Frisk came home for a break. "Uh. Um."

Sans watched his brother, noticing Frisky wasn't around him. "What happened, Papyrus?"

"There are some not so good things that may be or have happened." Papyrus waved to Frisk. "You should probably take the human boy to your room."

Oh no. That didn't sound good. "Come on, Frisk. Let's go." He moved up the stairs, trying not to drag too fast, but Papyrus words worried him. "There, in ya go. Be right back." He quickly moved back downstairs. "Where's the other human, Pap?"

"Undyne arrived and she has been with the adult human in the bathroom. I . . . she asked me for another shirt, so I know the human is probably alive?" Papyrus whined softly. "I haven't heard any more noise. Do you think that Undyne hurt it?"

"Okay, alright." Sans nodded. "Calm down, I'll check it out. Okay? You stay here." Sans took a shortcut to their balcony and looked in _._ Undyne was blocking his view. He knocked on the glass door, and she turned around.

Undyne opened the balcony door. "Almost done." She smirked at him. "Keep your pet _in line_ , and tomorrow I am going to visit again. I know she's hiding things, and I want to know what she _knows_." She looked back in the room and then back at him. "Lesser Dog and Greater Dog didn't die to get thrown into a human con, and I refuse to lose another soldier. Tomorrow, I will show no mercy." She hopped past him off the balcony and went on her way.

It sounded like Frisky wasn't dead. Still, there was something about Undyne Sans didn't like. The way she flinched when she talked. He looked back toward the bathroom and saw Frisky. She was wearing a different shirt now, a blank one without his classic 'it was me' on it. She tried to wave, but her hand didn't reach high.

Sans quickly took a shortcut back to Papyrus, getting her out of the balcony room, just in case Undyne came back to finish her off.

"Human? Are you okay?" Papyrus asked as he looked at her.

"Eh." Frisky tried to smirk. "You know me, I'm always on the **_cutting edge_** of life."

"Momma?" Frisk called from on top of the stairs. Papyrus didn't drop his ball and chain far enough away to keep him from the door.

"It's okay, Frisk," she insisted. "Just **_carving_** out my destiny a day at a time, but I'll live."

"Okay, not good!" Papyrus started to fidget with her shirt. "You are as bad as you were with the Royal Guards, and that was Undyne!"

"I'm fine," Frisky insisted as he patted her shirt. She waved to Frisk. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

Frisk eventually left from the doorway. Sans didn't move while Papyrus kept fidgeting around with her. It wasn't hard to tell, her body was giving clear signals something was wrong. And her joking was definitely giving bad vibes. "Welp, Frisky, he's gone, so **_cut_** it out already."

"This is no time for something like puns!" Papyrus yelled at him too. He touched her back, making her move involuntarily again.

She wasn't going to spill easily. If at all. "So, what kind of spaghetti are we having tonight, Papyrus?" Sans would get the answer, but it wasn't going to be easy to get, and it wouldn't happen yet. Not the way she was staying clammed up. The more pushing, the worse she would push them away.

"The ones without any puns involved," Papyrus warned him. "I shall make my homemade artisan spaghetti!" He grabbed Frisky's ball and chain. "Come human! You are lucky enough to see how I make my best dish!"

"Sounds great, bro. Just, let me know if Undyne comes back." While Papyrus took off to the kitchen in a rush, Sans slowly walked back upstairs. Frisky didn't want to tell them anything yet, and he had to keep his eye on Frisk right now and head back to his next job.

Undyne was out for blood more than he thought though.

* * *

"What do you mean you do not want to move the couch to my room?" Papyrus complained to him.

"It's too much work. I'll just watch them on the couch from mine again."

"But, Sans! Undyne is, she is clearly keeping a particular eye on the humans." Papyrus groaned. "You can't stay awake and watch them all night."

"Fine, we'll take shifts," Sans agreed. "I'll take first."

"Sans," Papyrus gave him a warning kind of sound. "Did you at least clean your sheets this time? Prisoners or not, they need hygienic accommodations."

"Tomorrow night. They are fine right now."

"Oh, do you have to be so extra lazy sometimes?" Papyrus groaned. "Fine, but make sure you don't fall asleep."

"Sure, bro. I gotcha."

That night, Sans acted like nothing was wrong at all. Frisky didn't seem bothered by it. Of course not, he used to ricochet her all over the place. He was only waiting though. Frisky tended to curl up with Frisk, making it easy to get to her back. If he acted like he didn't even really care, she should eventually go to sleep, and he could see what Undyne did.

* * *

Trying to act like her life didn't stink wasn't easy, but Frisky was good at it by now. Her life had always stunk. The only thing good in it, real good, was in her arms. _Things aren't getting easier though. I thought if I could get separated back into my own body,_ _we could get out_ _. Ha, what a joke_ _!_ _I'm not FRISK. I'm not even Frisk_ _y_ _anymore,_ _the mission's over_ _._ _Right. Concentrate, 95452._ _Undyne_ _has met more than_ _PERSEVERANCE_ _already. When? Coming back from the castle?_ She sighed. _And when in the tales of being a hero did it ever say you had to deal with being a criminal first in order to help. I mean, help. Help! I didn't even do anything but help. I couldn't go against_ _Undyne's_ _wishes while she had power, or I would have saved the guards too. But, I had to. Others would have been hurt. Sans would have lost Papyrus if I_ _just snuck out with Frisk_ _._ She looked over toward Sans who was sleeping on duty. _Never thought he'd actually not hurt me again once he knew what we did. He's been nothing but decent, and I just feel like this time, it_ _might be_ _for real. I don't think he's going to kill us. I think he wants to be our friend again. Oh, I hope so. I know he can make life better just by being around him._ She closed her eyes again.

Comedy. Humor. Weak, weak memories of another time and another place.

Not helping. _Okay_ _, j_ _ust get some rest. There is nothing you can do about your back. I just have to keep . . . oh, why even bother? What's the point in_ ** _saving_** _when you know you can't reset_ _or continue_ _?_ _I mean, I don't think I can. I don't really want to, Sans is clearly just getting used to the fact time is moving again._ _No, I have to do this right. I can't let_ _Undyne_ _kill me, but I have to earn her loyalty. I can do this, I am a PACIFIST soldier_ _, 95452_ _! I can make it through this._


	9. The Great Froggit War

Sans opened his eyes some time later, finally convinced the Frisks were both asleep. It wasn't surprising Frisky didn't sleep with her back toward him. He moved off the couch and came closer to his mattress, just on the other side of Frisky.

The shirt was still oversized, so at least that made the next part easier. He gently lifted the back of it and looked down. Yep, Undyne cut into her alright. That's why Undyne demanded another shirt. His other shirt was probably wrecked. He moved the back of the shirt up more until he could see almost her entire back. Yep, that was a graze of a spear, but it wasn't as bad as it should be, meaning . . .

it must have been worse than he thought. This wasn't a threat, it was a fight. Undyne pulled her into an encounter underneath his own roof? _Ugh, that fish lady._ It looked like Undyne must have used healing gels right afterward to save her life. Her way of 'showing mercy'.

But, even though it saved her life, healing gels applied too soon would make Frisky feel the pain for a longer amount of time _._ He let go of her shirt, but suddenly felt her pull away. She moved her body quickly to the wall, along with Frisk in her arms. Breathing hard.

Almost forgot. A part of her probably still believed he was going to kill her at some point. "I just needed to see," Sans admitted. "You need healing gel."

"Already had that, thanks. Not really my favorite thing in the world," Frisky said quickly.

"You're not getting a choice." Sans held out his hands to her. "Give me Frisk. Papyrus can watch him while we get this done."

"Don't. Really." Frisky tried to hold on, but leaning on that wall so fast on her back really messed her up. Sans easily grabbed the sleeping Frisk.

"He'll be fine. We'll get this done and go back to sleep." Sans took Frisk out of the room as casually as he could. He went into Papyrus' room and tucked Frisk in beside his brother.

This wouldn't be fun. The healing gels on her would heal over time, but it would be drawn out pain, and she would have that scar forever. He had no choice.

Sans came back over to Frisky's room. "Come on. Healing gels are downstairs."

" . . . does this have to be done now?" Frisky asked, arching her back slightly. "Doesn't rest sound better? Nothing heals better than rest."

"Up." This wasn't a choice and he used a tone to denote that as he grabbed her ball and chain. She got up and he took a shortcut up to the bathroom. Grabbing a small chair in there, he gestured for her to sit down and looked at the healing gels.

All laid out, alphabetical order, Papyrus style. He sighed. Alphabetical order wasn't the order he wanted. _Let's see. The weaker ones should get the job done for human skin, but if I use too weak, it'll just be painful and won't work. If I use one that's too strong, there will be more pain._ "Do you know which one of these Undyne used?"

"I think it was a light blue tube," Frisky answered. "I don't remember, I was on the ground most of the time."

Light blue tubes. Sans moved all the other tubes out of the way, and was down to ten. Various strengths. He looked for tell-tale signs like which one was open, but more than one was open. Hm. This still wouldn't be easy. He studied the strength label of each gel, and decided his best chance was medium. It was open, it wouldn't be too weak, but if it was too strong, it wouldn't burn off her skin. "Lucky winner."

Sans came on the other side of her, but her shirt was staying on better again. "Do you know when you're weight's going to stop bouncing around?"

"It'll settle soon," she answered dutifully. "The less stress, the better."

Great. In the meantime, how was he going to do this? "I hate to tell you in such a **_heated_** situation, but you're going to have to lose your shirt." She didn't move. He gestured out the balcony door. "I'll tell you what, Frisk Number Two. I'm going to trust you in here for five minutes. Call me back when you're ready. If you don't, then, we really aren't going to have a fun time together. This is going on, one way or another."

Yeah, she probably got that hint. He headed out the door and waited as she closed the curtain. Mm. He'd rather be on the couch resting and leave it up to Papyrus, but he couldn't do that. This wasn't going to be easy, and he didn't want his brother to have to take care of it. At the same token, he couldn't keep waiting though. Once the burn of healing wrong eased up, the scar that would start to form on fragile human skin would be permanent. Even healing gels couldn't get rid of it.

He'd barely even made contact with Frisky's shoulder when she first came, and she practically shivered involuntarily. _Keep trying. She'll eventually forget all the times you mercilessly killed her._ He had to do something, she was a part of something creating genocide back then. What could he do, just pass by with a wave of his hand and let everything disappear without even a try? Sure, he never won, but it wouldn't be a world he'd want to live in any way. But, he just never realized there were innocent screams in there.

Screams that deserved that mercy button. Except now he was about to put her through even more pain with his own hands. Yeah, like that wouldn't be a fun reminder.

"Okay."

Okay. He opened the balcony door and looked in. Her entire back was exposed, and she had her shirt covering her front. Seemed to make her feel better. "Great. This shouldn't take long, then we'll head back to bed." He grabbed the gel and squeezed some on his bony hands. "Uh, just. I know you have no **_burning_** need to be here long, so let's start." Involuntary scream number one, coming up.

"This isn't necessary. I have enough DETERMINATION to heal." He didn't buy that at all though, and started to put on the gel. That liquid burned like sin. _Like sin crawling on my back._ She didn't want to yell and alarm Frisk. It was just treatment. He wasn't actually trying to kill her. In fact, she could tell he was trying to be gentle. At the beginning, the pain was intense, doubling and sometimes tripling what she already felt, but it was starting to fade into more of a massage. By a skeleton.

But, it strangely didn't hurt at all. What once felt cold and dangerous . . . felt . . . different. Not, bad different. It wasn't human skin, but that was her problem half the time. The fragility of her body.

"So Undyne's asking questions?"

"Yeah," she answered, feeling him massage up into her back shoulders. "She said she ran into three bad humans so far. She wants answers."

"So two extra? Huh. Wonder where."

She arched her back, feeling him get her in the middle of her back.

"Doing what I can, pal. You'll be fine, kiddo."

Pal. Buddy. Kiddo. "Sans, I'm really not a kiddo you know. Ah, ah, ah."

Sans stopped a moment. "Frisk told me you abandoned your old name. What was it?"

"Dead," she said. "It's dead and terminated, all authorization and priorities assigned to it are gone."

"Didn't ask that. Asked what it was." Sans waved the healing gel in front of her. "You're in a tough position, so answer honestly."

Frisky looked at the healing gel. Would he really quit in the middle of it? It was insane to do something halfway. She had already made it through most of the pain. "I was previously Frisk and now I am 95452 until the next mission. My previous civilian name is unknown to me."

"Oh. Welp, Frisky I guess you'll continue to be for me. What about the actual kid, what was his name?"

"Soldiers do not keep any actual identity except their identification numbers," Frisky said. "As a conduit, Frisk was considered a soldier the day he was born."

"Yeah, and people have been taking over his body since day one I bet too. You should name your kid. Give 'em something that's his own."

Frisky didn't answer back at first. She needed to be _very_ careful. "If I had the authority to name my child, which I do not, and would never pretend to have, since I am only a lowly human. Then, I would have called him . . . Chance."

"Well, hey, there's a good **_chance_** I could work with that."

"But I can't name him."

Sans didn't respond to that. Instead, he continued to put the healing gel on. When it was applied appropriately by Papyrus, it was so easy. Now because of Undyne, doing it, the same way would have been more torturous. Still, they should be done soon. Hopefully.

"Listen. You know? I thought I was good at keeping secrets, but you take the cake there, pal. So, I promise that I will keep Undyne off your **_back_** , if you give me some answers too." Sans squeezed some more gel on his bony finger. "Fair?"

Pretty fair. "It's hard to share everything. I will share what I am authorized to," she agreed.

"Best I'm gonna get I bet. Alright then, Frisky, it's almost over."

"Alright, Frisky, it's almost. Wait, I said that?" Sans looked back down at her back. There was no healing gel on it.

"Alright, Frisky, it's-what?"

Frisky looked up toward Sans. "Oh no. I'm not doing that." She tried to get up.

"Oh no. I'm not-"

"No, idiots!" Frisky yelled. "Someone is resetting! Not like this, it will be full of errors!"

"Someone is resetting! Not like this, it will be full of errors!"

"Errors!"

* * *

 **Spaceship 229: Above UNDERGROUND**

"Holy gaw damn it!" Larrs yelled as he came in. His coffee was now all spilled on his shirt. After leaving for the weekend, he had come in to check the feed. "Frank, get in here, now!"

Frank entered, seeing the coffee all over Larrs. "Drink much?"

"Shut up about me, look." He gestured to the screen. "Gone, FRISK's signature is gone."

"Are you saying we did it?" Frank grabbed a chair and got behind his own computer checking the feed. "I don't see anything. Wait, there are some signatures. Damn, those aren't all good signatures. Check the feed, Larrs, while I see who here survived." He typed in some commands into his computer. "Frisk is alive, we did it. DETERMINATION, double bonus. Uh, PATIENCE too. That's all I see though. Damn, out of seven souls, only them and the conduit."

"I can't find any of the others. I don't know, but the conduit's the only one that mattered anyhow. What are the other signatures?" Larrs asked as he was checking the feedback. "Bam, right there. There it is. Signals sparked, they were separated!"

"Oh, man, we are going to get the biggest damn promotion ever!" Frank said as he was zooming in on the new signatures. "Project UNDERTALE, after this many years, solved. Solved by us! Well, once we get the conduit out, but damn. We've got NEUTRALISTS, TERMINATORS, and GENOCIDERS that made it through to. They must have investigated the shockwave as well. Oh, I knew I should have come in yesterday, but Trisha's family was visiting. They aren't real good at walking down city streets yet, and she would have chewed my butt out if they had got eaten."

"Now's not the time for excuses, Frank," Larrs said as he continued to check the events. "Just tell me are there any enemy conduits too?"

"Four, and some with classified identities."

"Okay then, we need to open feeds down to 95452, and call the higher-ups."

"She doesn't have anything for communication. This mission prohibited all modern technology."

"She got an MP3, I checked the feed inside the Temmie's store."

"How the hell did she get that?"

"The mission status is deemed failed, so you-know-who probably left it as a calling card. Don't worry, old outdated model. Ooh, poor girl. That had to _hurt_. She looks terrible in this close up too. We'll have to get her repaired later."

"Damn, there was a ripple. I saw that. I bet they felt that down there. Who is manning communication?"

"Conner, but I don't know if the momma can get to it." Larrs pointed to the feedback he was seeing. "She's in Snowdin, inside the Monster's house."

"Which Monster?"

" _The_ one. And she's . . . getting rubbed by it?"

"What?" Frank moved over to see Larr's screen. "Zoom in. What am I seeing? The Skeleton should be wanting to kill her, not moisturize her! The thing went crazy. Shoot. Wait, zoom down there on her foot. Yeah, that's a chain. Prisoners?" He slapped his face. "All this time trying to get him to shoot and make them survive, and now they are prisoners? Try to find her position and maybe we can bring her up manually. Genocide all over again if 95452 doesn't get on it, fast."

"But what about the conduit? That's way more important!"

"No, no. We'll get him, don't rush it. There are a bunch of errors popping up though and we _have_ to get the Underground back under safety first. Balancers will be beyond pissed if anything _really_ happens to a single Monster."

"Yeah, the Great Froggit War. I know."

"Yeah, but you're too young to remember. I was alive. I was in my school class, learning about shapes. How a triangle had three sides while a rectangle had four. I had just raised my hand, when the first attack went off." He looked away. "Tragic. It wasn't even our fault, the chances of normal death in a reset does happen."

"Yeah. One Froggit. A lot of humans were sacrificed that day. Then there was the Forgotten Battle. I'm glad I wasn't alive for that one. A million humans," he said snapping his fingers, "wiped out like that."

"Ancient history, but if we screw this up and just grab the conduit, it could repeat. So, this first. We'll get the Underground back in control first, reset every single Monster lost, and then we'll get it."

"What about the conduit's mom?"

"We'll just capture her, and send her back to civilian status with a wiped memory. This would be too cruel to know."


	10. Encounter Ability Blocked

"Yes, errors," Frisky yelled as she stumbled away in response to the jolt. Not a good idea when her back was just being healed. "Damn it!"

Sans felt his own skull and stumbled back a few times. He looked all around him and at the blue tube he was holding. His head felt fuzzy. "That's right, I was rubbing this on your back. What was that?"

Frisky had been so alarmed with what happened, she had fallen onto her back. "Someone's here. That wasn't me or Frisk," Frisky groaned as she pulled herself up. "Not a reset, but a jolt from someone new entering in the Underground."

"Someone new?" Sans questioned her.

"Yep. This is bad." Frisky turned away from him and slid the shirt back over herself. "This is really bad. Only Frisk and I should be here."

"How bad?"

"Bad. Bad, bad." Frisky looked toward Sans. "I'm sorry, I haven't been forthcoming about everything. I am kind of a prisoner. We haven't had much one on one time, it's a lot to take in too, so there isn't much to –the Ruins?! Sans, I need two favors! I swear, if you do this, I'll tell you everything you've ever wanted to know. Unclassified, whatever, this is an emergency."

That sounded too good to pass up. "What?"

"I need the little device that Undyne took, and I need you to take us to the Ruins, the beginning of it. Your shortcut, quickly!"

Undyne? If she didn't look like someone was about to die, he would have to take time to think about that. Her place was rather small, and there were limited places she'd put it. "Fine."

It didn't take long to find it. He grabbed it, took a shortcut back to his place for Frisky, and one more to the Ruins. He handed it to her. "Better keep that promise."

Inside the ruins, Frisky looked around. "Landing spot." She tried to run, but forgot about the ball and chain. When she fell from its weight, it landed her into an encounter with a whimsy. "Oh, not now!" She pressed **FLEE**. "Sans, you have to get this thing off!"

He zapped the chain between the ball and her foot. "Afterwards, that goes back on. Now what's going on?"

"Hang on." She ran into the hallway toward the golden flowers on the ground. "Okay." She looked toward Sans. "Um . . . I don't really know what to say, except that . . . I-I'm sorry about crashing everything you've ever believed in." Strange silvery light fell over her. "Then again, you above everyone else should probably know the truth." The MP3 beeped in her hand as she looked at it. She gestured with her finger for him to come over and pointed to her MP3 screen.

A strange robotic voice was heard. "Teleportation . . . fail due to errors . . . correcting errors . . . pending . . . Reset power restored. . . Saving power restored. . .

Reset memory restored. Transmitting data. Mission failed . . . Stats influencing missions being logged . . . transmission failed . . . pending . . ."

"Failed?" That didn't make any sense to her.

"What is all that?" Sans asked. "Teleportation?"

"Yeah, uh. I need to get back to figure out what's gone wrong, but . . ." Her reset and saving power were repaired, so what was wrong?

" . . . transmission impossible . . . incoming message . . . Direct Order Connection ASAP . . ."

"Oh no." Shoot. If only she had something more powerful than a third generation MP3 Camo device. Something was definitely wrong if they weren't letting her leave the Underground. She tried to stay calm, but this couldn't be good.

" . . . calling in progress. . ."

"Hang on." Sans was understanding some of it though. "Are you telling me you could have left the Underground at any point you wanted to?"

"No, not as FRISK. I was in a permanently attached status until the mission was deemed over," she said.

. . . Connection established. . .

"Finally." Frisky went into her default menu and found emergency contact.

A familiar voice was heard to her. Not her favorite voice, just a familiar voice. "Emergency assistance is not in your area."

"This is 95452," she said. "Emergency information please."

"Corruption. All Missions in Underground Terminated for two hours. Incognito."

"Incognito?" Sans asked as he looked at the small screen on the device. "Are you telling me humans have been visiting the Underground, in _incognito_?"

"Um. Mostly." She didn't have time right now for explanations. "Afterwards, promise. Explanation. Lots, Sans the Skeleton, lots." Frisky got back on her Mp3. "Request information. I have no functioning device except a third generation MP3 Camo."

"Enemy infiltration. Take care of yourself," the voice said back.

Ugh. "Conner, I mean it!" She yelled. "Tell me what's going on!"

"The enemy is in the Underground. Keep yourself safe for me," he replied back.

"The enemy is in the Underground." Sans looked straight back at her. Again. "Does that mean more humans? Or something else?"

What? "Request immediate assistance. I need at least a ninth generation upgrade, Conner."

"I can get you an eight upgrade."

"Are you kidding? I need a nine."

"I am only permitted to get you an eight, sweetums. Sorry."

He just had to start the pet-talking bull. "Fine, ASAP."

She kept her left hand still and up in the air. As she heard the upgrade complete signal she opened the advanced menu. "Dust analyzation in progress . . . 20 feet . . . 100 feet . . . 1000 feet . . . Analysis Complete. Froggit. Whimsy. Vegetoid. Goat."

"What. Is. That." Sans' voice.

The bone-chilling sound in Sans' voice brought her mind back to Judgment Hall. _Later._ _If he wants to fight me and kill me endlessly again, then later! I have a_ _new_ _mission. I can't let guilt and shame sidetrack me._

"What is that, _95452_?"

She didn't answer, but instead pulled up another running analyzation. "32 incognito. Four conduits, incognito. Three revealed? We need to get back to Snowdin," she answered.

"Goat."

"Toriel. There's no other goat here." She closed her eyes. She tried so hard. Sans didn't make a sound next to her. "I could run another analyzation to see how close they are." She felt her device being yanked away, by one unpleasant looking Skeleton.

"Why bother? More Monsters are just dying by doing that." Not happy, he was not happy. "Doesn't even matter anymore, does it?"

"It does," she said softly.

"Reset. Reset and begin again. Again and again and again . . ." Sans chuckled. "Heh. Look at me. I thought I actually _escaped_ it all. Boy, was I a fool. But, in the end . . ." He looked at her device in her hand. "What are we? Playthings?"

 ***Encounter ability blocked**

"Encounter ability blocked?" Sans just gritted his teeth. "Do you really think I would-?" But, she disappeared. Gone. "Great. It would have just been another rehashed reset anyhow. Determination never did me a lot of good. It's all just useless anyway, but . . ." He stuffed his bony hands in his coat. "One more go round. Round and round and round . . ."

* * *

 **Ship 229: Location: Above Underground**

95452 watched as her usual team surrounded her. She walked quickly while they tried to shove data reports at her. "Not now, trouble." She moved over to the computer and pushed down the microphone button. "Red alert, I repeat, red alert. Underground has been compromised by the enemy. Anyone with any kind of MP device, please locate and make sure all incognito members, and no MP status' are aware of the situation." She let go of the microphone button and took the first report. "Damn. Why are they swarming? The mission failed. Get Conner in here, now."

"Baaaaaabe!"

"Don't babe me, Conner." She marched toward him. "Now, I want to know, now! How does Sans the Skeleton remember so much? Who put that into the program? He has always just had a sixth sense, a way to read FRISK's face, but that's it. Did no one think I'd notice? Who approved him to actually remember and how far back?"

Conner rubbed her neck. "Superiors, babe. It says they switched him to Guardian. Status also shows the mission's failure didn't get logged." He raised his eyebrows. "So I can still call you Frisky."

"Fine." Fantastic actually, that would work out in her favor a large amount. A second chance to escape punishment. "Now, why would they switch that to Sans the Skeleton?" She demanded. "I need six soul soldiers for a temporary alliance with DETERMINATION, now! Anyone from my old crew, first choice."

"Maybe we should just let this finish and reset?" PATIENCE answered from her position. "Hi, Frisky. Long time no see. Anyhow, are we going with a new reset position?"

"No, no reset. We broke FRISK down there, and I also took out PERSEVERANCE with Sans help."

"Oh, Sans helped us? That's awesome. I wish I could have seen that. By the way, I reached King Asgore, and after that everything got fuzzy. I was released back here, but they still didn't say the mission was over. Failed or complete. I actually got demoted too. So I can't go with you. Weird, huh?"

"I'm sorry you can't go then but I really don't have time for small talk. If I had time for something, I'd be chowing down on some real food and getting some real clothes." Frisky gestured to herself. "Corrupted. Not an easy fix, it took data. Anyhow, do I have six soul soldiers _now_?"

"If we do this, the Underground could get extra corrupted. I don't think I've seen it get this bad with the readings already," Conner informed her. "A conduit should not dismantle down there. That's rule number one."

"No. I am saving this timeline, I am not just leaving them down there," Frisky grunted. "Not this time, I personally can't do it. I need to get down there again. I will stall them, but I need six soul soldiers as soon as possible. Give them my location."

"Frisky, new reports are saying that you can't do it. You must bring the conduit back onboard and abort."

"No. I refuse. I am not leaving the Underground open like that. Besides, it's already corrupted. I am not risking any Monsters getting hurt," Frisky reasoned. "I'm going back down."

"Oh, man." Conner finished looking through several reports. "Okay, you're right. You better get down there after all. We have _way_ too many errors, we are about to lose our grip. You've got to reboot it."

"No, FRISK is taking care of it," Frisky said confidently.

Conner handed the papers to her. "Afterward, Guardian needs to reboot." He stared at her. "And it's about to be toast in a battle in Snowdin, yeah . . ." He got on the microphone. "Six soul soldiers, stat!" He looked back toward her. "I'll send you back down. Sorry, I can't fix you. Our equipment won't do it, that was one big error."

"I know. I'll have to get the enemy to do it." Frisky concentrated on the status reports on the ones coming. History, research, authentication numbers, everything on the enemies. They all had a similar weakness. "I can do it."

"Sure?"

"Positive. My pride will be hurt, but I do what I have to do to win."

"Okay, just remember to use your wits. If you survive it all down there, motion shift as soon as possible and get the reboot done."


	11. Frisk Fight

"Stay back, Sans," Papyrus warned his brother. "This battle is too big for us."

Sans just stared at the three humans in front of them. These humans were tall, as tall as Papyrus. They were definitely not child conduits, but he could see them save. "Pap, I gotta go. You don't understand."

"No, no, no. You don't understand it either, and you can't just go headfirst into something you don't understand!"

"Papyrus." He couldn't just ignore it. It was like taking on three FRISKS. Unbeatable. Undyne was going to die. She fought strong and hard the first time, but time kept moving backward about three minutes each time. They memorized her moves, and they were quickly gaining knowledge of how she attacked. No matter how hard she tried . . . "She's going to die."

Damn it. _Humans._ Frisky had said it only took one to want to reset in a conduit. These didn't look like conduits. Could they each reset or just save? _Toriel_ _._ _The Royal Guards._ _Soon, Papyrus and I._

"No. Oh no, Sans. Undyne is almost done for," Papyrus said as he watched the other Royal Guards.

"We will storm them! The king will understand that an intruder this powerful called for it!" Doggo yelled to the others. "We will skin them alive. Where'd they go? I will take the moving one in the corner."

Doggo. Dogamy. Dogaressa. They were each trying to help Undyne, helping to relieve the chance of blows.

Doggo fell.

"They are all in trouble." Papyrus looked toward Sans. "Well? Uh." He looked back toward the field. "No. N-no, I must be brave too! I can't let our kingdom fall, and Royal Guard or not, I cannot shirk my duty!"

"Right." Sans looked toward Papyrus. "In a little while. If nothing happens . . ."

"No, no, no, it's too risky for you! You only have one hit point!"

"The enemy takes us out in one hit. It doesn't matter the points."

"Um. Uh." Papyrus stared back over at the fight. "We won't survive. But. But!" He put his fist toward his chest. "We cannot run."

Sans looked over toward Frisk. If no one came. "Heh, yeah." Now or later, it really didn't matter. Maybe he'd even be lucky and the resetting would stop for good. Cause he couldn't take much more. His mind was ready to break.

It would have been better if he had never started to believe he could escape it. But, what happened. Happened. "Together, The Great Papyrus?"

Papyrus and him both stared at each other, a silent understanding. They gave a quick nod and looked back at the battle.

End it. Just, let it end. He was so lost in his thoughts, he was surprised when he felt something tugging on his coat. A familiar tug. Sans looked down and saw Frisk. _I just don't get it. She loves this kid to death at least. She_ _would never leave him behind_ _._ "Your mom left."

Frisk didn't look surprised. Instead, he held his hands out. "Can I have a hug?" Sans patted him on the back. "No. I want a _real_ hug, Sans." He held his hands out again for him. Sans could see the nervous tension in his eyes. Real nervous. _Something's about to go down with him._ Like Frisk didn't know whether he'd ever get a chance for another hug again.

Sans picked him up and felt Frisk squeeze onto him tight. "Hey, Frisk? Did you know your mom always wanted to name you Chance?"

"Huh?" Frisk looked back at him. "Chance?"

"Yeah. So, ya know, you survive this. With her permission or not, I'm gonna call ya Chance, pal. Take it." Maybe that would help give him some confidence to get through the next part. Sans didn't know the details, but he could guess that Frisk was about to lose control of himself again.

"I'll take it. Thanks, Sans." Frisk gave him one more hug. "Okay, I've got the DETERMINATION to do this! You . . . you just need to remove my chain before I start to run," he warned him softly. The kid talked a big game, but it was obvious he was scared. "When mom leaves a bad situation, she leaves for a reason, and I need to be ready for _anything_. I am going to miss you, Sans."

Sans put him back down and stared at the kid. Chance. Yeah, he could see why she would pick that name. Without him, there was a good chance they had no chance. _Hopefully your mom's got a miracle_ _._

* * *

"With everything I have!" Undyne yelled as she swung her spear, "-I will-!"

 ***Encounter Ability Blocked**

Undyne was frozen in place as Frisky came running into the area. "Sorry," she apologized, "but you can't interrupt this."

One of the enemies then spoke up. **Human 1** **:** **ACT** **:** **Talk:** "Who the heck do you think you are? This is our battle, girl."

Her sizing. They had no idea who Frisky had been. She waited.

 **Human** **2** **:** **ACT** **:** **Talk:** "Doesn't matter," another one spoke. "It's all the same in the end."

 **Human 3** **:** **ACT** **:** **Talk:** "Can somebody take a turn already? This is getting boring. If someone doesn't go, we'll make something happen."

 **Human 1** **:** **ACT** **:** **Talk:** "Can we battle already? We've still got a long way to go before rendezvous and I'm hungry."

 **Human 2.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Shutup, man. This'll be over soon enough."

"Sup."

Not a surprise at all. Frisky looked over beside her. "Sans. You shouldn't be here this time."

"Pfft." He gestured toward Frisk. "He's ready for whatever you're doing."

"Sans, no! Get out of the encounter area!" Papyrus yelled from the side holding Frisk. "Brother, don't!"

Sans shoved his bony hands into his coat. "So? Unstoppable genocidal maniacs. Sounds familiar, but this isn't going to be like last time, is it?"

"It's not the same at all." He had already figured that out. "They aren't on my side. I can't just disable reset."

Sans shuffled his feet casually on the ground. "Well, everyone's going to die anyhow. So, I hope you've got a plan. If you do, I'll make it up to you. Maybe another burger or something."

 **Human 2.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Can we get going already?"

Frisky looked back at him. "Sans. My chances of winning are greater if you leave. When I boarded, you were blocked. It happened automatically. I am sorry about that, but . . . look, your brother is worried. Please?"

"Eh." He just shrugged and walked off still muttering. "Just go for it then. Nothing to lose anymore. I'll be out there kind of cheering you on."

Distant. Frisky looked over toward Frisk, and then back at Sans. He would fight them over a thousand times if he had to, even though it was meaningless. But inside, he was definitely losing hope. She knew that look. _No. I have to win this. I have to pull out all the stops, no matter what._ She changed her expression to be a bright, cheery smile. Cheezy. Ditzy. Easy. Time to act for ACT. According to her data, these guys were not on a uni-sex ship. If at least two were straight or bi, she would have a chance. If not, she would have to take a second more desperate action she didn't want to.

Begin.

 **Human 3.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Can we hurry this up already? This is annoying."

 **ACT.** **Talk** **:** "Sorry, guys!" Frisky laughed. "One second. I just put on fingernail polish, and I hate for anything to happen. Do you know how expensive polish is? If you have a girlfriend, then you should know she'll put out _every time_ with the right kind of fingernail polish. It needs to be a hot, hot pink. The hotter the pink, the better. With a glistening shine to it as well as . . ." She pulled out her device and looked at the battle menu as she continued to talk. She threw it into the ACT button and started to dig into the menu. **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT. Talk:** "By the way, I'm Frisky, and I'm human, so you guys already screwed up."

 **Dumb Goon 1: ACT. Talk:** "What, human? Hey, you renamed me!"

 **Stereotypical Villain 2: ACT. Talk.** "Oh ha ha, funny."

 **Not Good Enough to Get his Own Name 3** : **ACT. Talk.** "What the hell?"

 **Mistress of Mayhem.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Renaming talent." Frisky smirked. "Oh, goodie! Chances just rose a lot in my favor." She twirled her hair with her finger as she looked back into her system. "Let's see here. Oh, this is all so new. I didn't join very long ago, really need to learn the ropes still. Hmmmm . . . oh, here it is."

 **Dumb Goon 1: A** **CT** **:** **Talk:** "You can't be human, look how tall you are."

 **Not Good Enough to Get** **His Own** **Name 3:** **ACT:** **Talk.** "Yeah. You just got a hold of an MP3."

Frisky dug around deeper into the menu. She was using one hand to project one part to the field, but her other fingers were now working in a hidden menu.

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT.** **Talk** **.** "Oh come on, we're all humans. Let's not overreact, and just give me a second? I just, well, I'm still fidgeting with this stupid menu stuff. I like the name changing though, that was so uber cool to find."

 **Dumb Goon 1: ACT. Talk:** "Uh. Yeah, so you new?"

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT.** **Talk** **.** **"** Totes new, but, uh, I um. I didn't really come for a fight?"

 **Stereotypical Villain 2.** **ACT.** **Talk.** "That's kind of obvious."

Frisky just rubbed on her hair over and over anxiously before hitting talk again.

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT.** **Talk** **.** So, this is a little embarrassing? But, I got stuck in a coding error when I came down. I-I didn't really know what I was doing . . . and I was wondering if you could help a girl out?"

 **Stereotypical Villain 2.** **ACT.** **Talk.** "Ship?"

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT.** **Talk** **.** **"** 229. **"**

 **Dumb Goon 1: ACT. Talk:** "Silly girl. What the heck are you doing down here? Oh well. Doesn't matter, we can get to know each other later. We're taking over your section, so we'll be teammates here soon."

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT. Flirt:** "Oh my gaw, for real?! Oh, that's so awesome! I had no idea you hotties would be my new teammates. So do you think you can do me a favor?" She winked. "I'm almost six feet, blonde, with a nice little hourglass figure. I really don't want to stay like this, no guy would ever look at me twice. So a little assist? Maybe back in the Ruins, before we go up?" She tugged on her shirt for good measure. "We can end this battle and I can hide in a corner real quick over there until I get better clothes."

Each of them exchanged glances with each other. _Bingo._

 **Stereotypical Villain 2: ACT. Talk:** "Yeah, why not? But instead of in the Ruins, why don't we go ahead and fix ya back up here? Start on the right foot?"

 **STREAM ERROR UPLOAD CORRECTION IN SEQUENCE.**

Frisky could barely cover herself in the stumpy shirt now. She knew they would want to fix her size right then and there for the best perverted view. The only thing that kept her butt from showing was the fact it made her skinnier too. Still, the shirt was falling all over the place even worse than at Grillby's. It had to be done though, this couldn't be done safely without her original dimensions.

 **Mistress of Mayhem: ACT. Talk:** "Oh, goodness!" She tried to cover herself bashfully. "I didn't mean it yet! I don't even have any shorts or anything." She could almost feel Monster's eyes burning into her. Through shame, through surprise, she didn't know and she didn't have the luxury to find out. Frisky always did what she had to, to win.

No one ever said winning was easy.

 **Not Good Enough to Get His Own Name 3: ACT**. Joke: "Whoah hoah! Hot damn, besides the blonde hair, she wasn't lying!"

 _Doing good, doing_ _good_ _._ She needed to concentrate though. Her real goal was _almost_ obtained. **Mistress of Mayhem.** **ACT.** **Talk.** "It was kind of neat to be short though, see, because I never was short before. I mean, I never even looked at short guys. I like them big and tall and _brave_. The braver, the more I really, you know." She winked. "Liked to share a hug or two between missions when things got boring."

 **Stereotypical Villain.** **ACT.** **Flirt:** "Well, you know, I have been on four missions, all C class and higher. Some of them I almost couldn't reset in."

 **Typical Goon.** **ACT.** **Flirt:** "Five, Frisky. I've been on five of those."

 **Mistress of Mayhem.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Five? Wow! What was your biggest mission?"

 _Talking._ _Keep talking you idiots. Keep talking. Keep talking._ _Almost . . . almost . . . yes!_

 **Mistress of Mayhem.** **ACT**. **Heckle:** Actually, I really didn't mind being short. For one, it's easier to get clothes down here. For two, I don't have to deal with idiots like you."

 **TRANSPORTATION COMPLETE**

"For three, it doesn't matter. Punks. Thanks for the repair, now we get three free turns for each transported player before your next turn!"

 ***Six players have joined the battlefield.**

"Shit! Aah!"

 **Frisk** **y** **.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "Yeah, I also installed electrocution for each offense on the battlefield, each more lethal. Escape has also been deactivated, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you that."

* * *

Sans watched beside Papyrus and everyone else. Somehow, all of their encounter abilities to join into a fight stopped working. Probably because of Frisky. He felt Frisk tug on him one more time. _Time must be coming, huh, kiddo?_ He gave him a friendly pat on the head as he took the shackle off. "Go save the day, kid."

"Mm." He tried to smile at Sans. "Bye, Sans." He bounded off toward the encounter area. He heard Papyrus call out for him, but no one else bothered. No one there cared about one human kid except them.

 _Keep it together this time. I don't want to have to stop you again. I really, really don't want to stop you again._

* * *

 **New player 1:** Thanks for being PATIENT. I got us together as soon as I could, 95452," A new human said.

 **New player 2:** "BRAVERY will definitely be needed," a woman said on the other side of him.

 **New player 3:** "These men have no INTEGRITY," another human woman said as she winked at Frisky. "Lucky for you, or there's no way this plan would have worked."

 **New player 4:** "It shows real PERSEVERANCE to stoop that low for an ACT," another human man said on the other side of Frisky.

 **New player 5:** "This is really not a scene for me, but sometimes even KINDNESS must make a stand," another human man said.

 **New player 6:** "Alright, let's get this show started, Frisky!" the last human winked at her. "I am out for JUSTICE, and nothing is going to stop me."

"Why do they all keep talking like that?" Papyrus had to note. "Who _talks_ like that? What is going on?!"

"Dunno." _Those must be_ _saving words_ _._ Sans watched Frisk move through the crowd of onlookers. It wasn't every day that a bunch of humans just teleported into a fight that no monster was allowed to enter, so no one else seemed to even notice it.

 **Frisk** **y** **.** **ACT.** **Talk:** "In case you haven't figured it out, there's no way you have more DETERMINATION than any of us."

Everyone except Frisky placed some kind of weird device inside the ACT button. The whole menu was changing.

 **ACT:** Subact **: Identification: 32743. PACIFIST SOLDIER. TEMPORARY STATUS: TERMINATOR. JUSTICE.**

 **ACT:** Subact **: Identification: 40328. PACIFIST SOLDIER. TEMPORARY STATUS: TERMINATOR. INTEGRITY.**

Underneath each of the ACT menus, similar changes could be seen being made.

 **New player 6.** **ACT.** **Talk.** "Come on, 95452. We need to do this." He looked over at Frisky with empathy. "We do what must be done, DETERMINATION."

Frisky straightened her back up and put in the same information, only delayed for a few seconds before her own board lit up. **95452\. PACIFIST SOLDIER.** TEMPORAY **STATUS: TERMINATOR. DETERMINATION.**

Frisk ran up into the encounter area as everyone's soul rushed into him. He stopped. Then, he walked. Walked a casual walk as all the boards disappeared. He stopped in the middle, and there was only one menu now.

FRISK.

"The boy has his eyes closed again. Taller?" Papyrus almost stuttered. "That's him, that's our first human friend, Sans! What is that human doing all the way over here? How'd he get up there? What's going on?"

 _Chance_ _, you're one brave kid._ Sans didn't know what else to do. He had a lot of power, but he had no idea what he was up against. Last time, Frisky was the one who really saved the day. This time, it was FRISK.

* * *

"The end. The beginning." A flower that couldn't stay away any longer kept himself near a tree, but within distance of the action. "The beginning of the end." Finally. After all the continues, all the saves, and all the resets. It would end.

And it would be by the bony hands of the smiley trashbag. Flowey didn't care though who ended it. Just that it ended. It would end. It would be ending. He felt the change as soon as it happened. He'd been watching between the Frisks and Sans. Following them their entire journey.

Oooohhh . . . Sans would give 'em all hell when he found out the secrets. And, none of the significant part of FRISK would leave the Underground. Ever. Again. Not when he found out.

Feeling the cold air on his petals, he was torn between hiding away and hearing the end of the human's last chance to save themselves. Or just enjoy watching FRISK save the Underground. Not just one battle.

From it all. Because there was no way that smiling trashbag would take the next step! Never! Never.

And he'd make sure of it. He'd make sure. "Fight. Do it. Last save. Last continue. Last." He chuckled softly, trying not to be noticed by others. "Last reset ever made to the Underground."

It was time. The impossible finally happened. The events of Judgment Hall mixed with the events that were happening now. He understood the desperation of humanity. Why it did what it did. It was really a small thing, on a small scale. Such a simple action, and most of the pain could be wiped away after it happened. But, they never thought of the big scale looming over the small scale. They thought of the Underground as an object. Something that could never fight back. It was time to put an end to it.

They would learn to live with each other, or wipe each other out. Either way, it was all ending.

Ending good. Ending bad. It was all just ending. "This is it." The mom would do what her ship said after she broke the temporary joining alliance. He knew what she would say.

But even she knew nothing about the whole plan. She was barely a footnote to the encyclopedia of crimes committed. "Chara." Flowey watched his breath out in the cold of Snowdin. He looked upward, above him. "It's all over."

Worth the cold. It was worth the cold to watch humanity's last mistake. Besides, not one Monster would care about one golden flower watching from the ground of a nearby tree. Not with FRISK making its last move.

No more repeats. After that day, it would be all new. All new.

All.

New.

As long as he performed his last part.

His last big showing.

His last introduction.

Tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow.

Karma was a bitch, and it was time to pay the reaper.

And that reaper . . . was Sans.

* * *

FRISK kept its eyes closed as it left the battlefield. It passed Sans without a word. Others shouted for it, but it didn't respond to anything. It just stayed motionlessly in front of Sans and Papyrus' door.

 _Yep, it's definitely you again, FRISK._ Sans unlocked the door. FRISK went inside and up the stairs. Sans followed it carefully, watching it grab the knife and leaving the locket of Frisky's that they kept hidden away in Papyrus' room.

Apparently, it didn't think it would need it.

Then, it turned around and left out the house as soundlessly as it came in. It came back to the battlefield. One of the humans attempted to run, but the electrocution struck him. This time, it might have killed him, or knocked him out. The other two humans stared at FRISK as it just kept its face forward.

The expressions on their faces. Dying was one thing, but these two clearly knew they were about to die. The terror in their eyes were so deep, Sans couldn't even tell if they were crying or not. Each of them knew what was coming.

The emotionless child just stayed still.

Eyes closed. Face not smiling or frowning.

Just straight.

Everything was just eerily straight.

 **FRISK. FIGHT.** Holding its knife up, FRISK struck one of the humans. Their soul heart destroyed, along with a slash against their physical body. The other player didn't move for some time.

Sans shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting. He'd seen that move. Used that move before. The 'if I don't take a turn, you can't attack' move. The human was down to that. It never worked, of course, and the human wouldn't last even as long as him. The fight might go on for days, but FRISK never tired. FRISK never stopped trying.

He knew FRISK. And it wouldn't let him leave alive. Seeming to come with grips with the reality of it, the human tried one last, desperate move.

Mercy.

 **Dumb Goon 1:** **ACT: Talk.** "Mercy! Mercy! Come on, you know I can't do anything! Come on, PACIFIST soldiers in there, please! I don't really want to die! I will leave right now, I promise! I will never come back to the Underground! Please, spare me, I'll leave as soon as you do that, please!"

 **FRISK. FIGHT.** FRISK struck the other human, their soul heart also destroyed along with their own physical damage of death.

 **Battle Won!** **6 EXP.**

Sans watched as soul lights shot out of FRISK, leaving the kid as just a kid again. Sinking to the ground. Remembering how infantile Frisk had been last time, barely even being able to walk or talk, he teleported quickly to him before any other Monsters realized he was just a defenseless kid now.


	12. Sans has Control

Before he could pick up the kid, Sans saw Frisky's back with Undyne's spear graze still on it. "Not again."

"I made a promise that I would tell you everything," Frisky answered. "Afterwards, if you want the reset memories gone, I will show you how to do that." Frisky looked back toward him. "Sorry."

Sans looked around. "Great. Do we have to start this again?"

"This will be the last step back you have to know about. After this, it can all be erased. You can forget everything about me, about Frisk, about the genocide, everything. The wipe is so good, 97.5% never even have a single nightmare about it. In fact, you probably don't know how many times we've been looping on reset. Even I'm not allowed to remember past 75, or it could destroy my mental state." In her hand, she held her small MP3 device. "It's been upgraded. Everything that just happened with the humans, it happened. There is no one else to fight now, right now. What I just did to create a new FRISK, it corrupted everything. Even the last save area was terminated, the program brought me back to my second save spot. This is called a motion shift. It was the last action I could take. This means that everything was just moved into the exact positions they were in this save area, and all Monster minds were wiped, except yours. It didn't bring anyone's lost soul back since then. I'm sorry."

Sans moved away from her back. "I can forget everything?"

"Yep, everything. You'll never know the whole FRISK. The Underground will be unaffected. You'll never know . . ." She just looked away. "You'll never have nightmares about knowing the truth. If you still wanted it."

He crossed his arms. "After all this time, yeah. I want to know."

"Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"I can't explain everything," Frisky answered. "I don't have enough science experience for it all. I'm just a soldier, but I will tell you what I can. I have special permission to authorize you any and all facts that you ask for."

"I bet it won't be half as fulfilling as a Grillby burger then."

She chuckled. "I know you hate my guts right now. I'm surprised you haven't just killed me yet."

"Don't know how to feel about you. Wouldn't kill you, but not exactly feeling buddy-buddy," Sans confessed. "Jacking around with time again. But, you saved the Underground. Again. So, keep your head straight and let me get this healing gel back on."

"Alright then." Frisky took a deep breath. "This will be quite surprising, and you may not want to believe it. But, it's the truth."

Sans shrugged. "I don't know how you can actually surprise me now."

"Every time a Monster dies in the Underground, two humans are killed for it."

Sans stopped. " . . ." He moved back toward taking care of her back. "What do you mean?"

"Well, in my world, humans aren't rare. Aren't special. Nothing, really. We've become rodents, and because of our growing numbers, many of us are treated like rodents." Frisky kept looking straight. "If we have no purpose, no mission, and we haven't accomplished enough to be considered 'valuable', we are turned into re-resets. A friendly way of saying zoned out human. Some might use the phrase 'zombies', but they don't hurt anyone. They just . . . exist." She held her hands up gently while trying to keep her shirt tucked under her elbows. "On my right, one Monster. On my left, two people. Reset souls are souls that are drained of the essence that keeps them going so strong. They are nothing but hollow shells by the time they are forced to die. Thus, their soul just turns to dust instantly when they die. When a Monster dies, that dust is transported down to the Underground so quickly, no one catches the illusion." She tucked one finger on her left hand down. "Then, that same Monster's soul is protected within another re-reset for months. It doesn't perish or turn into dust. When the reset comes though, it is ejected with the strength of what's left of the human's soul. The human's soul doesn't survive the journey." She placed her other finger down. "One dies for the illusion. One dies after it protects the soul."

Sans stopped putting the healing gel on again. Stunned. "What? Why?"

"Preservation. Humans are rodents. Monsters are special. I am stuck with the same power only because I am a soldier down here. Every time I die, re-resets are used, and I just come back."

He dropped the tube and stumbled backward, needing time. That . . . that number. "I've killed you thousands of times."

"Actually-"

"Seven separate souls in FRISK."

"Yes."

Sans stayed in the corner of the bathroom door for several minutes. He couldn't even name how many times he did that. All from him. _She said she could remember 75 timelines. I remember_ _thirty. Forty_ _. That's . . ._

"Don't get worked up. They really are sadly more zombie than human. Death is the only release for them. Living is hell for them." Frisky took her device and inputted some stuff. "Look on your ceiling."

Sans looked on the ceiling. He saw a projection of . . . ants? "What am I looking at?"

"The Re-reset satellite." Frisky tapped some more. "A satellite was created for them because others don't want to see or interact with them. Hang on, I will focus on one quadrant." The focus became clearer. "They . . . are alive, but not. Drained of their essence. Look at them. Day and night, they stand. No sleep. No speech. They never make any kind of a break, just wait until their turn to die."

Dead. They looked dead. Their mouths hung open and they shambled. Sans couldn't do anything but stare.

"Power. Study. Research. It started as finding a way to defeat a Monster's magic if they ever moved out of the barrier. Then, there was a turn. Humanity realized we were turning ourselves into something much _worse_. Our studies and experiments had accidentally created the re-reset. Showed us how easily we can truly have our souls defeated. They can be created, they can be born . . . humanity was almost lost forever."

"You experimented so far with souls, you created something like zombies. Humanity. Seriously."

"Yes. Humanity didn't have a use for them at first, but they were growing with no control. So now, humans were just a disease. Now, the Monster was considered precious. They couldn't be turned, only transported into a re-reset. What humans once thought of as fragile and weak, became powerful and strong." Frisky bit her lip. "You weren't the only Monsters sealed up, Sans. Some escaped, and were sealed up later."

Sans waited to see where this next part was going.

"Humans could be turned easily. The research was out there, everyone knew it. So, we released more Monsters back into our world that had been sealed away too. They were our last chance but they weren't happy."

 _Duh._

"They put up a battle and slaughtered a lot of us until an agreement was reached." She looked toward the ceiling. "With soul experimentation perfected, the strongest traits were established into a new breed. Monster and human, together. They are immune to the re-reset fate, and rule the world now."

"Monsters rule the world? And my day is not going to get any weirder than this, right?"

"I am human. Complete human, therefore discardable. So is Frisk. So is everyone that can be put into a conduit, or on missions. This is our life." Frisky chuckled a moment. "It's anything but funny."

Sans finished up her back, putting the pieces together. "Basically . . . human experimentation created the zoned out humans . . . and you needed Monsters to save you."

"Yeah, in a nutshell. The irony, huh?"

Sans rubbed his forehead. "Then if humans are so repelling, why aren't _we_ free yet down here?"

"That is what my mission was supposed to be for. Mission Surface Seven. Finally breaking Monsters into the truth. It was debated on for so long though, because even monsters aren't full Monsters up there over thousands of years. The true Monsters are down here. So . . . I'm sorry. It's, just, the Underground . . . it's a-" She gulped. "A nature reserve."

"Come again?"

"The Underground is considered a delicate, natural habitat. There is no corner down here that escapes reset mode. Every Monster can be saved, at any time. Well, used to."

"Nature. Reserve." Huh? Huh?! "Then, genocide?"

"While my side wanted the Monsters to understand the truth, others wanted it kept secret. They feared another backlash. Even this mission, it could only work if Monsters didn't know the truth of it. PERSEVERANCE was of that belief, but he lost his mind. More than one of my crew was affected. There was an imbalance and it couldn't be fixed. Each save, things became worse from the imbalance. Humanity is a perfect machine with seven souls of presence, but not with an ounce of anything else."

"Hm." Sans looked at his bony fingers and ticked them off one by one. "Monsters are thrown Underground. Humans create zombie things. To stop that, humans join monsters. Now, humans are nothing . . . and I live in a safety habitat."

"Well, not quite. Um. Everything has a flow. The resets, the conduits, it's all connected." Frisky took a deep breath. "When I went up in the Ruins, I found out it _stopped_. For good. Only with a reboot can it be accomplished."

"Fine." A little rougher than he intended. "Nothing else new."

"Not quite, Sans. When I went up, I also found out that you were the Guardian. On each mission, there would be one Monster that would remember a little about the resets taken from a specific mission. Usually toward the front area. Usually someone who . . . would steer a person back in the right direction if something went wrong. Often, it was a scientist or someone who could be helpful. If I remember correctly, something was sensed inside your house that Monsters shouldn't have." He was silent, and she couldn't blame him for wanting his privacy. At least he hadn't killed her yet. What else? There was so much to explain. "Saves. It's like a reset. Whenever I say the word DETERMINATION, I am giving myself a new place to begin, in certain locations. It is tricky though, because if I needed to change anything before that, I would have to cause a full reset, not a save. It's not something that can be done by anyone but you anymore." What else? "Um, resets Underground. It's a defined area . . ."

"That's it for tonight. I'll make this work without a reboot."

"Only a full reboot by you will bring everyone back. Toriel. The Royal Guards. Everyone."

"What's done is done. I'm not living that way anymore."

"You could still get a decent ending," she reminded him. "I'm sure it'll be fine." When she opened her eyes, she saw him right in front of her. She grasped her shirt tighter.

"Don't lie. You're not the part of the whole FRISK who was good at lying."

"Every Monster should be saved. The ones coming, you saw those numbers. They won't be easy to defeat. There will be more death before it's all over. No one will be safe if you don't reboot."

"Nope."

She closed her eyes. "Look, time is moving nicely, but if we don't trust in a **_hard_** reboot by you. . . sometimes . . . I mean, after several months of being in a re-reset . . ."

"Done," Sans interrupted. "With everything." He rubbed his skull. "We can get back to bed now." He picked up the ball and chain. "Come on. Tomorrow always comes too soon for me."

"But there's still more you should know-"

"Not now."

"Fine, then stare at the wall."

Okay. "Really want to go to bed, kid."

"I promise. Just stare at one spot for awhile."

Sans looked at the wall in front of him. After a couple of minutes, he started to see the cracks in the wall move around. What? They moved into a pattern until the word reboot was in front of him.

"The anomaly is too great. _Only_ the Guardian, the Monster that remembers, can have control. When you're ready. You don't even need to tell me. Just, when you're ready."

He only glanced at her slightly, inserting that information in his skull, and started dragging the ball away, giving her no choice but to follow.

* * *

 _So._ _Zombies._ _Thanks_ _,_ _humanity._ Sans closed his eyes on the couch. You'd think the fact no Monsters were actually ever killed and only weird zombie things took the burden would make him feel better. Yeah, it didn't. _Figures._ _Look how far we got in our research just_ _Underground_ _. Being up on the surface, all those scientists . . . yeah, something was bound to happen._ _K_ _arma_ _._

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling, seeing the button in front of him. _A reboot._ _No kid this time. No perfect FRISK._ His knock-knock door friend would be back. He'd never know she was actually the queen. He could just take care of his brother, and keep his daily life the height of his own problems. Forget the knowledge of humans. Forget everything.

But, it would bring in more errors. Even if Frisky didn't think about it, he had been involved in the timelines enough to know there was something else going on Underground. An underbelly of Underground. He'd met a couple of creatures that showed up, even one similar to Monster Kid, that would say something simple, and then disappear for long amounts of time.

They sounded lonely. They sounded knowledgeable. What if they were the Monsters that were once supposed to remember? The Guardians?

Sometimes . . . he felt almost as lonely as those mysterious creatures tended to be. One in particular before it disappeared, never wanted to be remembered. 'Just forget about me', it said. That's all it wanted. To be forgotten.

If Sans were the only one involved in this, he might do it. Might. But then again . . .

FRISK wasn't in the timeline anymore. Sans broke it all apart. Frisk even destroyed one of them that had been inside of her, for good. So . . . the Frisks. Frisky and the kid, Chance.

A ton of Monsters alive again along with the Royal Guards, all for two people and him.

Math would say good idea. Math was also something he turned his back on some time ago. He only used it to check out the timelines. Which was why he was probably the chosen candidate to remember in the first place.

 _Damn._ The longer he got away from the point where he was always resetted, the more he wanted to _live_ again. Live with surprises. Live new days. Have Papyrus learn new ways to make spaghetti. Spark new jokes. The more he craved something . . . and the more time went by, he knew what that was too.

Baby bones couldn't just take care of each other, but in his mind, there was never anyone else. It had always just been him and Papyrus. _Considering it's us who can study the timelines, it would make sense I'm not the first in a line. . . and if I end up an error, the best way to get rid of an error is to delete its existence . . .a_ _nd if I'm gone, the next mission that comes around will make Papyrus_ _the one_ _that remembers._

He sat up on the couch, sweating a little from that discovery. His little brother? No way, he could never do that to anyone, let alone Papyrus! _No. No reboot, ever._

Hm. Wait. Frisky said the Guardian had to be the one to reset. She dropped the ball when she let him know everything was _that_ corrupted now.

Then . . . if he never reset . . . "That'd be it," he mumbled out loud. "No more save. No more resets. Just, life. Unpredictable life." But, did he ** _really_** have the final say about it? Frisky was just a soldier. Her knowledge was clearly limited.

Nah. He'd catch up on sleep tomorrow during work. It was time to look closely at that MP3 with Alphys before he brought it back to Undyne

* * *

 **Alphys Lab**

"Hey, Alphys. I need a favor."

"Huh?" Alphys blinked once before sitting back in her bed abruptly. "Wh-who are you?! Wait, I know you. Don't I?"

"Yeah, I think." Sans rubbed his head. "If I had known this was the timeline that mattered, I'd remember better. Pretty sure we've met though by now. At least once in the past before all this hell. If not, just trust the déjà vu you feel. Anyhow, I'm a guy who knows about your little science projects. Amalgamates ring a bell?"

"N-no, I-I, I never meant to hurt anyone!"

Sans held his hand up. "I'm here to talk about timelines. Humans, zombie things, and basically keeping Undyne off a couple of humans' **_backs_**. Secrecy for secrecy."

"Wh-what?"

 **Ship 229. Above UNDERGROUND.**

"They win. They won. Can we bag them now?" Frank asked. "Motion shift's been initiated."

"Where's the sound volume?" Larrs asked. "This needs to be turned up. She was talking to him a lot, the dialogue just runs across the page too much to see what's happening. I'll have to pick this apart."

"Nah, she has to convince him. Switched him to Guardian so we could do the memory thing without questions. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, good cover. He'd be better than the flower, but the flower can remember everything. It's already insane so less work. Okay, locate them. It's night time, they won't move." Larrs bit his lip as he stared at the screen. "Finally, FRISK is complete. The ultimate weapon, I can't-wait? Frank?"

"Feed is gone?" Frank looked back toward Larrs. "You?"

"Yeah." Larrs checked all his channels and stations while Frank was doing the same thing. "Whoah, whoah, Frank. Incoming unapproved teleportations . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 10 . . . damn! What the hell's going on?!"

 **Alphys Lab**

"Not that. Not that. You can't see that. You can't watch that." Sans stood in front of Alphys main computer along with his own machine and the MP3. "No. No. No. No." He stopped only long enough to rub his eye sockets.

Playthings. Animals in a zoo. That was all they were. One by one, Sans was taking over all the feeds. The MP3 was more than just a weapon, it was a super computer, and it had access points in it that enabled him to hack into other computers. With the strength of Alphys computer and his own machine too, he discovered a ton. Frisky said there was more, and he could see what else she needed to say. It made sense how even when they were alone, she still watched every word she said. Because they were _never_ alone. "No. No. No."

They had eyes everywhere. His home. _His_ home had cameras in it. The outside. Shops. Personal homes. Even the small weird balcony they always had without a door. Everywhere, everything. The Underground could be completely seen, even King Asgore's castle.

While he was doing that, he was also returning opposite feedback, teleporting the enemies, allies, and anyone else who didn't belong in the Underground away. Everyone but two, Frisky and Chance. Frisky had more information, and he wanted it all before he sent them away.

"This is absolutely amazing! Look at this. Look at all these parallels happening now. I-I've known it in theory, but to see it." Alphys adjusted her glasses. "And the technology of this little device, everything inside of it." She looked over at Frisk's MP device. "I-it's almost . . . i-if we had been on the surface, we would have made even _more_ headway in our science. Stuck down here . . . but look at all . . ." She put in some more information in her own computer. "We've had limited souls of humans to study, and Monsters fade so fast. Look how much information they've gathered, how far the scientific community has gone! It's amazing. It's breath-taking."

"It's dangerous. It created humans that aren't even 'human'," Sans reminded her before he went back to the feeds. "Nope. Nope. Nope."

"Y-yes, you're right," Alphys corrected herself. "Still, the ability to join souls into a single body. Living souls. At _will_. Now, how would they control who would be a conduit? It's doubtful every child-"

"Don't know. Don't care." Once again, more science he didn't want to think about. Especially considering what he discovered on that thing. "I just want to know. Your own theory. What will happen if I reboot it all?"

"Uh. Mm." Alphys looked at the projections and back toward Sans' own machine. "A-are you ever going to tell me where you got that from?"

"Nope."

"Mm. I-if I knew the one responsible for this, then maybe I could-"

"Nope."

Alphys sighed. "From what I have, I think. Uh, all the components of anyone who doesn't have retrievable souls . . . they would probably ummm . . . get erased. Or maybe just a couple? Or maybe just their memories? I-I don't know."

"Okay," he answered. "Not much more helpful, are you?"

"Well, I studied different things. I didn't study this exactly. Th-that's the best answer I can give."

"Okay. Question two. Am I the only one now who can really reboot?"

"Hmm . . . well . . ."

 **Three more hours of research, checking, and more fact checking . . .**

"You're extremely happy with that answer."

Sans didn't need to comment on it. They checked and rechecked.

Combining his machine, Alphys own research, and the MP device, it was certain.

The humans tampered _too_ much. A reset when something that was seven souls with some destroyed could not be brought back. And, if there was any kind of error that could allow it, it wouldn't be able to get past the fact that it was reformed with different souls for a second time. Even the humans _knew_ it would be riddled with too many errors, which was why Sans was the only one to get to reboot.

No reset for anyone. No saving for anyone. Not until after the reboot, which was really just removing the corruption, which was the ones who changed events because they could remember. Sans and anyone a part of FRISK would stop existing in that timeline. They'd be gone, wiped from everyone's memories so that there was no more errors. No more glitches. And the whole function of starting and saving could begin again.

"I still can't . . . th-this is just . . ." Alphys gulped, trying to get a grip on what she was seeing. "The technology is amazing, but i-it's like we've just been _toys_ to them! I-I don't know how I feel about that."

 _Try living it._ Sans gestured to the computer. "I want copies of this." Copies of the day his life was back under _his_ control. "And uh, not a word to anyone, okay?"

"Of course. A-and not a word about . . . you know . . . them?" Alphys said shakily. "Secrecy for secrecy?"

"Not a word." Sans let himself slouch some again. He didn't just stop a reboot, he stopped _everything_. Humanity couldn't play around with their 'natural habitat' anymore. "Well, only one more thing left. I need you to talk to Undyne so she doesn't torture the humans tomorrow."

"But, Um." Alphys took her glasses off and cleaned them, putting them back on. She rubbed her shoulders. "Undyne's not really . . . sh-she doesn't understand science, let alone this complicated level. I-I mean I don't know how you even know it. No offense."

"Forget it. Just talk to Undyne."

"But, uh." Alphys stuck her tongue in her cheek, before continuing. "Why?"

"After I talk one more time to Frisky, I'll send the two humans home." Sans stretched out his skeletal hand. "I need the MP back too."

"You don't want to share it?" Alphys asked. "S-sorry, I guess I'm curious about things sometimes. N-nevermind, I'm sorry. Forget it. I guess. Are you sure? We could do so much with this device." He kept his arm outstretched and she gave it back.

"Just deal with Undyne."

"O-oh yeah. Um. But, why me?" Alphys asked.

Huh? Oh yeah, FRISK didn't get far enough to get those two together in that timeline. "Just, trust me. You've got a good connection. So, I'm going home to get more sleep. Later." With those words, him and his machine disappeared out of there.

* * *

 **Sans' Room**

While he stared at the ceiling, Sans watch the Reboot button reform. He just waved at it. _Never, never._ He was tired of his world being someone's game. Monsters lived and died, that was life. It wasn't something that those re-resets should pay the price for.

He rubbed his collarbone. That couch was okay for naps sometimes, but it wasn't built to be a bed. Still, he wasn't going to get Papyrus for his shift just yet. He was waiting. When he felt his cell vibrate, he picked it up and got the news he needed. Alphys got Undyne to hold off on the torture. _Good._ He had a hard enough time trying to break through to Frisky that he wasn't going to kill her in the middle of the night. Even though he even rubbed healing gels on her, she still seemed prepared for a bunch of bones to penetrate her back at any time. Especially as she tried to explain.

She had determination, but she was low in the trust area. She couldn't help how the world turned out above, so even if he wasn't pleased, why would he blame that on her? And having something that changed who controlled FRISK? He couldn't blame her for that too. She was just a regular human who got stuck with . . . hmm.

That disconnection error that stopped everything, it had another side effect. Made sense why FRISK never had problems with lava or snow in a simple tutu. Humans were known to be fragile about the weather. _Geez._ _Humans are harder to take care of than a pet by a longshot._ _Good thing they are going soon._ He could see Chance trembling while his mother snuggled as close as she could. He got off the couch and moved closer to them.

 _Please don't wake up and think I'm trying to kill you again._ He took off his jacket slowly and tried to lay it on both of them. He felt the involuntary fear he always felt in Frisky. Of course, a momma always wakes up. She looked down at the jacket on top of her and Chance. "What's this?"

"You're freezing," he said simply. "You two take it, I got more."

"But . . ." And then, he saw it. He felt it. Finally. She didn't say anything afterwards but she didn't need to.

She finally _believed_ for one pure solid minute, that he wouldn't hurt her again. Through her eyes, the relief that flooded through her ricocheted back to him. He almost did a small skip as he laid back down on the couch. That look she gave had given him a tremendous boost. He kicked back with his legs crossed, staring in the air. Amazing, purely an amazing feeling. He'd felt a lot of things coming off of others, but he never felt so much . . . relief.

Now. If he could have gotten that look for more than a minute, then maybe he could have become friends with Frisky again. Yeah. It'd be nice to bury everything for good before they left tomorrow.


	13. Why There's Snow in Snowdin

"This is cool," Chance said as he patted the other side of the snowman. Sans left him outside the booth instead and brought an old friend to keep him company. Monster Kid. Of course, like everything else, Chance didn't remember him. But they didn't have a huge history, so Sans filled him in on it. Like he thought, Chance didn't even care about the being chased by spears part, just that he had a friend.

Monster Kid was patting the snowman on the other side with his feet. "What should we give him for a nose?"

"A nose? Do snowmen have noses?" Frisk asked as he wiped his nose on another old coat Sans gave him. Funny, he never had problems with his nose getting runny before.

"Yeah, and faces, and scarves," Monster Kid added. "Haven't you built a snowman before?"

Had he ever built a snowman? Frisk had never even seen snow until he came to Snowdin. The white fluffy stuff. It was way better than the alternatives. Sharp grass and jungle cutting into his skin, or endless metal in the training facilities. "Nah, I haven't ever played in snow before."

"Wow, so did you live in Hotlands?"

No, of course he didn't. He couldn't just say that though. "Uh. I guess you could say that," Frisk lied softly. He brightened up again. "Hey, he should smile. Can we give him a smiley face? How do we make faces? With a special snow pen?"

"A what?" Monster Kid asked him. "No way, just bits of tree and stuff. You just use whatever to put on the face."

"Oh, cool!" Frisk almost fell flat on his face as he took off too quick in the snow. Monster Kid did land on his face. "Oops!" He forgot about the prisoner part. He looked down at his friend. "Oh, you alright, MK?"

"Can't get too far there, Chance," Sans warned him, keeping a lazy watch on him. Frisk hadn't been sure he'd even been awake.

"Sorry." Frisk returned back to the snowman and patted it down, but he noticed the odd thing Sans said. Why did he say chance at the end of the statement? He must have missed something. A save of some sort of his mom's he betted. Did Sans have a new slang name for him? Before he could think anymore about it, his thoughts were interrupted.

"That was cool!" Monster Kid came back over to him. "I like that! MK. Can you start calling me MK?"

"Oh. Sure," Frisk answered. He just kind of called him that by accident. Since no conduit had names, and numbers were annoying, they usually just called each other with their own alphabet slang. It was simple stuff that could be confused as actual words, so the guards never bugged them about it. There was OK. A. AM. PM, and Y. Those were his friends. Well, um, not Y. Not anymore.

"Frisk and MK. We are cool," MK said as he patted the snowman with his foot. "Hey Frisk, are you related to Monsters?"

"Huh?" Frisk looked over the snowman toward him. "No. Why?"

"Uh, 'cause your hand?"

Hand? Frisk looked at his hand and quickly jammed it into the snow. That was . . . _what was that?_ He drug his hand back up. Was that a trick of his brain? _But, MK saw it. He saw it first, so it couldn't be a_ _trick. What was that?_ That didn't make any sense, and he didn't want to worry his mom. So, for now, he'd just forget it. Life was just a day at a time anyhow.

Although, it was kind of weird to see his mom suddenly show up next to Sans. Sans grabbed her ball with her only slightly confused as he led her away.

* * *

"So." Sans brushed his skull and then put his comb away, turning to Frisky. "I've got you set up to go back to your home. No more shackles. _If_ you answer some questions."

Oh yeah, Frisky knew she was beaming. No more shackles, and with that Emergency assist she pulled last night, it was more than enough to make up for her failure for the mission. No punishment. "Ask away."

"You've got seven other souls in FRISK," Sans asked. "Why couldn't someone else pick up the slack?"

"Some did, but PERSEVERANCE and DETERMINATION are the group leaders. When it came to intense battles, a group leader was authorized to be there." She shoved her hands behind her back. "I . . . did what I could to keep control, but he had more training. All I had was . . ." Yeah, not good memories.

"Okay, been wondering about that." He leaned on his bony hand. "How do humans turn into re-resets?"

 _Oh. Oh no, not that one._ Frisky rubbed her hand. "Hey, I have a joke for you."

"Cool," Sans answered. "You can tell me _after_ you tell me about re-resets."

Dangit. Sans hadn't thrown her one pun since they left the house. He really wanted to know it, and he wouldn't let up. _Well, lead in with it, I guess. I promised I'd tell him anything he wanted. I have to. He'd know if I were holding something back anyhow, he_ _'d_ _eventually figure it out._ _Besides, I am authorized to tell him whatever he asks for._ She scratched the top of her head. "I tell jokes. I don't mind jokes. Even the worse ones I still like, but . . . I-I tell them the most when things get tense and Frisk is around. Potential re-resets are used as the conduits. It's the lack of an increased essence in any direction that makes them . . . uh, candidates for conduits." She quickly slapped on a smile.

"And that's what's waiting out there for him when he leaves the Underground? Are you serious?"

"No. I had failed the mission, but it was not logged. And although the mission cannot be completed, the emergency assistance with FRISK helped. When we go back, we'll go back to a free world." She couldn't help a small smile. "To family. To a real life."

"You're not just saying that?"

"I can't exactly lie to you. Do that judging thing if you have to."

"Okay then. I believe you, and I guess, that about does it for me." He looked straight at her. "Just one more thing, and I will let you go home."

Really? One more little thing? Frisky looked toward him. "What?"

Sans yawned. "When you're leader, you can't always have control, but you can't escape either. Can you?"

Oh. Uh. "No."

"Yeah. I thought so. That's why I keep seeing you behind the knife, screaming."

Personal. Real personal. "S'pose."

"Murdered everyone right in front of yourself, hearing pleas of mercy."

This was not something she wanted to talk about. He already said he got the answer, why was he doing that? "S'pose."

"But all the other souls, the ones not in charge?" He yawned again, like it was no big deal. "They could just go to sleep like your kid if they wanted? Right?"

"S'pose."

"And during Judgment Hall, they all eventually left you behind the knife, screaming."

"S'pose." Her voice raised a little. Why was he doing that?

"And you shoved your hand on the mercy button, over and over."

"S . . ." _Okay, stop it,_ _Sans_ _._

He wiggled his feet. "But nobody came, and when your soul got tired, you lost all control again."

Why? Why was he doing that? She stopped being scared of him. She was getting over being inside FRISK. What was he driving at?

"Not that it was any use. By the time I cast that judgment, everything was all doomed." He yawned again. "Pointless."

"Y . . ." No, no. _Stop that, keep calm._

"Real pointless. Should have just destroyed that button 'cause you wouldn't leave it alone."

"N . . ."

"If I did, the other side of FRISK would have made the ** _point_** clearer to you anyhow."

"Just stop it!" She finally yelled. "You think I don't know any of that?!" Jailer. Prisoner. Skeleton who could stab her a thousand different ways in seconds but she couldn't take it anymore. "I tried as hard as I could to spare anything I could, anything! I didn't even _care_ if I could just take control long enough to save a froggit, after hearing all those cries of 'mercy' and 'stop' and even if I knew the monsters would be back safely, I just-I just!" She grabbed at her head. "I tried . . . the surface . . . if I made it, he'd just hit reset and come back harder . . . and the soul just can't keep going forever and ever and . . . then the deal with . . ."

Then, she saw something drop on the ground next to her. She bent down to look at it.

It was a mercy button. Not a real one, there was no encounter. Just, a piece of wood that said mercy on it. _Mercy._ _From Sans._ She held it close to her heart as she felt him bend down next to her. _The impossible . . . I never thought I could get_ _it_ _again . . . from . . ._ he was right in front of her, his calm eye sockets on her. Just staring. And she realized . . . she was staring back. "Thank you!" She quickly looked away, feeling her heart pound.

That wasn't right. That wasn't right. She couldn't hear anything but her heart beating and her cheeks were so warm, she'd swear she was moving through the Hotlands! _Okay, great, I got mercy, but w-what was that?_ Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

* * *

That relief again. The same kind he felt from last night, but he felt something else inside of it. Something he felt from last night. The feeling was addicting, he didn't want to stop staring at her.

What was it. What was it. It wasn't EXP, but it was strong. It wasn't LOVE, but it was strong like it. But it wasn't evil. It was like the power of LOVE without being evil. Powerful, energetic.

She stopped looking at him but the feelings that richocheted off of her though, they were still just vibrating in his bones. Sans wanted to look at her longer, but she broke away with a really loud and strong thank you, and then refused to look at him anymore. She glanced a little over, but refused to turn enough.

"Joke?"

Weird. Weird. Weird. Good weird. Good vibes. His bones were still vibrating from the sensation of the relief. _Make many signs._ _Lots of signs._ _Write it everywhere._ _Joke, why'd she say joke?_ Then he remembered, she said she had a joke. How did he forget she had a joke? That would be the one thing he wouldn't forget. "Joke, yeah. What's the joke?"

"Why's there Snow in Snowdin?"

"Um." Good joke. "Thought it'd be a knock-knock joke. Used to have someone to practice those with."

"It's a reboot away," she reminded him. Still not looking at him though again.

"Nah. Can't." Sans shook his head. "A reboot is just going to start the whole circle again."

"Yeah, but there's not much of a way to escape."

"Okay, I give up," Sans said, changing the subject again. "Why's there Snow in Snowdin?"

"You got my device still?" Frisky asked. Sans held it up. "Track 3. Song of Paradox. There's a little trigger on the side to make the screen bigger. Stare at the screen while you listen to it. Put that little white thing attached to it up to your . . . umm, well to your skull I guess. Make sure you hear it."

Sans did that, pressed play, and then stopped it after a few seconds. "That's torture. Aren't we done with **_torturing_** each other yet? I show mercy and you **_dunk_** on me."

"Sorry, yeah, forgot. That's why MP's work so well as camouflage. Loaded up with the songs of our ancestors." Frisky held out her hand and took it. "I'm ashamed to say I don't have real experience with how song secrets actually work, but I think as long as we don't cover up the white part, it should still work." She pressed play. "Now, just stare at the small screen."

Sans watched the screen for about two minutes while the song played. Once the song was over, he looked toward her. "Okay? Don't get the joke."

"You will." Frisky looked up. "Why's there snow in Snowdin?" She pointed up.

Sans looked up, and he almost dropped backwards from shock.

Sky. There was SKY above them. Coming from the sky, were tiny pieces of snow, gently falling to the ground all around him. " . . . because . . . it's really snowing?"

"Yep. A mountain with some random unstable entrance was always just a cover up. An illusion that worked on Monster's eyes because they were different." She held the MP. "I was supposed to destroy the illusion for everyone. No one will come down for another mission in at least two hundred years after all these foul-ups."

"Don't care," Sans answered as he stood up and held out his hand. "Can barely feel the snow, so small. Look at it." He turned around. "There's **_snowflaking_** out on this joke." He pointed upward in the sky. "That thing hiding behind those clouds, that's the sun, right?"

"Yep. It's not as bright as you might remember when you did make it to the surface because it's really cloudy. It won't come out much over here since it's always snowing."

"Doesn't need to. I can see it just fine from here." Wow. Incredible. He turned all the way around again, staring upward. He grabbed at his neck again, remembering the pain he already got from the couch two nights in a row. "That joke was a real **_bright_** idea." Even as he looked around, he could see the actual brightness of the sky and the snow fall and hit the ground. "Let me guess. Illusion cancels out once something touches the Underground itself."

"Yep."

"And that's why the ground always seemed a little brighter."

"Yes."

Not even trapped. No Monster was even trapped. It was an amazing feeling, but at the same time, he felt like ripping into something. Everyone felt trapped in a mountain, _believed_ they were trapped inside of a mountain! And it was just an illusion.

They were free. Absolutely free. The sun, the clouds, the moon, and the stars. Everything was free.

"If you want to hear the sound of the wind, you'll have to listen to the song itself I think," she said. "But, maybe you can?"

"No, I don't hear any wind. What'll it sound like?"

"Like rushing water through the air, sort of."

"Ehh . . ." Human songs were awful, but he wanted the whole experience. He took the MP player and listened to the dreadful sounds coming from it. After it was over though, a new sound started to come from a distance, until it was there. "Wind."

Rushing water through the air, but not. It had a sort of whistling effect to it too. He stared back up again, rubbing his neck more so he could endure. He could look up all day at it. "Everyone needs to see this."

"I don't have the supreme code it takes to do that," Frisky said. "I'm just a PACIFIST soldier. I was supposed to give the word, and a huge beam was supposed to wipe out the whole illusion. If I had known how fast PERSEVERANCE could hit the reset button the first time, I wouldn't have taken so long to make communication back. I was up there. I just wanted to say goodbye first."

Yeah. She might not be able to do it, but Sans knew he could. If he couldn't figure out a simple illusion trick on it, then Alphys could help. He'd probably need her lab anyhow. No way was he keeping this secret. During his research, he'd already picked up on the strange waves from the output, but it wasn't until now he knew what it meant. "Are there secrets in every song?"

"No, just the defaults," Frisky answered. "The rest are just songs humans used to like in our history before it was banned. It's the only legal way to listen to the creativeness of our ancestors now. Balancers hate it as much as Monsters do. But, with the new upgrade though, the other songs were wiped out. There's nothing on there but some hide status songs, fake hit point registers, and battle songs."

"Battle songs? The sounds already **_beat_** the drum too loud."

"No, it's how humans fight. Since we don't have magic, we can use songs as an attack too. The beat dictates digital power waves that can come at us when we fight each other." Frisky stood up with her mercy sign. "Human music increases our DETERMINATION, while it probably just fries a poor Monster's ear. Oh, but before I go, you should listen to the Sound of Healing."

"Eeehhh . . . is it worth it?"

Frisky just smiled at him. "It really is. I'd feel better if you played it before I left you."

"Kay." Why not? It must be something good if she wanted him to hear it. After it was done, he looked back at her. "So what did that do?"

"No more status effects due to timeline interruption. In other words, you now have everything that you have earned over all the hundreds of resets we've gone through. Even though you don't remember, something small inside the subconscious clings to it. You should have more than one EXP now."

Sans shrugged. "FRISK is the only thing I had to take on down here."

"I know, but, now you're safer. It's also got an illusion cast on it when you go into battle. No Monster can see how really powerful you are. Once you hit your previous EXP limit though, it will reveal the truth, unless you use another song on there."

"I think I am done with songs. For now. I can check more later though. Might need it for any invaders."

"Just reset."

"Nope, never."

"Uhh . . ." Frisky stuck her tongue in her cheek. "Eventually, you have to. There are invaders waiting. They each have their own source of power to reset, and there are conduits that are pretty much unstoppable too. You saw FRISK. It's just like that. Only another conduit can stop another one. Otherwise, they are invincible."

"Nope. Everything is so bad down here, even a motion setback above a level three will glitch if used more than twice." Sans held up her MP player. "I'm the only one who can reboot, and I never will." He pointed to the sky. "Even if there was a shred of possibility . . . it'll never **_surface_** again."

"You knew the results of a motion shift by levels?" Frisky pressed her hands to her hips. "Sans, what do you know about my device?"

"That it belongs to the Underground now." He shrugged his shoulders as he shoved it into his coat pocket. "Thems the breaks."

"Wait. You can't just-"

"Nope."

"You don't know what-"

"Yeah, I do. And I did." He turned around, making sure he could still see Chance playing. "Want a hot dog? My treat before I send you out of the Underground."

"If you don't reboot, everything is stuck in place."

"Yuh huh. Hot dog?" She stood up and finally looked toward him. He looked at her back, trying to find that look from before. It was gone though. She didn't have anything that said she feared him, but that other feeling that was there, it was buried deep.

Frisky took a deep breath. A real deep breath. "Fine, a hotdog," she said roughly. "Sans?"

"Yep?"

"Due to what's around the Underground, there have been other things that happened. Sad things. But, if you see someone. If you ever run into a strange spirit named Chara. She was the imbalance. Just, um . . . tell her thank you for me? She would understand it."

"Long gone," Sans said. "I saw a presence fade away right before I ran into Chance. She's resting in peace now."

"Chance?" Frisky said rougher. "You _can't_ call him Chance, his name is Frisk for the mission."

"I promised him if he saved the day and survived, I'd call him Chance. Not gonna break it just 'cause he can't remember it."

Frisky just inwardly sighed. There wasn't much she would be able to do to make Sans obey anything. She had to ignore it and remain focused. "Teleportation interruption took out most of FRISK. If what you saw seemed 'ghostly', it could have been others departing, not quite retrieving their body. Or, it could have been others, and the interruption shoved them farther away before they became corporeal."

"It was short for an adult human."

"So am I," Frisky groaned. "It wasn't exactly an easy process. It couldn't have been Chara. She's tied down here. Somewhere."

"Doesn't matter who's right or wrong," Sans simply said. "Just head on out of the Underground, and know this place is never going to reset. Ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever."

He skipped. He actually skipped. "Dang it, Sans."

"Don't worry, I'm not pulling your leg." He raised her ball above his head. "Actually, I guess I am." He dropped the ball next to his booth. "You want catsup on your dog?"

But before she answered, Alphys walked up to them in the snow.


	14. The First Time Round

_Oh. Oh. Oh!_ Alphys didn't want to walk up to them at all. She knew she had to, but she soooo didn't want to. As she first started seeing them in the distance, she heard a woman yelling. She jostled up a bit faster, but then stopped when she saw them staring at each other.

It was like watching the ending season of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, but even better! Their eyes and eye sockets were just lingering on each other. No one was breathing or moving just staring at each other. It was one of the moments where, if it were on TV, she'd be yelling 'kiss! Kiss! Kiss!'. And if that wasn't cute enough, the human woman just kind of turned away, her face all lit up in a pretty pinkish hue. She even had her voice raised too loud.

And if that just hadn't been _enough_ , Sans was like, trying to look back at her again, moving all over. She thought he might even turn her chin toward him. It was sooooo awesome! It would have been even more awesome if she knew Frisky as that woman . . . instead of a kid on a monitor she never remembered meeting.

But then, after all that, there was nothing. They started to just talk like regular. Frisky wasn't looking at him, he wasn't trying to look at her. The moment was just so gone.

But, it had to be gone. Alphys was there to take her and her son home. Home and away back to their own world forever. They would never see each other again. _Keep it together,_ _Alphys_ _! You don't even know them._ _Th_ _-that could have been something else completely._ _Yeah, except it wasn't,_ _Alphys_ _! No, don't start the talking to_ _yourself_ _thing._

So, she moved a little faster and joined them at the hotdog stand. The clueless, romantic pair that would never be. "Uh? H-hi, Frisky?" Alphys waved at her. "Wow, Sans wasn't kidding. You really are different. About the same size though, I think." She looked over at Sans. "Okay, so, I'm here?"

Sans grabbed a bun for his own hotdog. He squeezed catsup on his hotdog and bit into it. He was quiet while he took a few more bites, looking up again. He didn't say anything until he finished his hotdog and licked his bony fingers. "I hacked it again, found more hidden objects, transported them away, and for good measure I uploaded a virus into their own program to replicate, and they still haven't figured out I'm accessing their entire database from their simple unit." He wiped his hands on his coat to brush the crumbs off. "But that's nothing compared to this joke I just heard from Frisky." He took the MP back out and flipped it around in his skeletal hand. "I'll tell you soon."

"Yeah, it's a good one," Frisky said, "but is it time? Can I go home now?" Please. Alphys was there, let it be time. She had waited _years_ to finally go back to a real home with her son. Too many years. To even think how young she was when she first became a soldier. Selected and brought to . . . no, nope. Didn't matter. _No more thinking that way. Ever again._

"Why the rush?" Sans answered. "Miss your life?"

"You have no idea how much."

"Kinda do," Sans reminded her. "Alphys took some time to set you up so that you could correct Chance and yourself."

"Mm hmm. We'll get you back to your proper sizing," Alphys agreed. "And don't worry, Undyne promised not to kill you on the way to the spot. I don't know exactly if I explained everything right, but I'll tag along just in case?"

"Don't make me go, please, Sans!"

Frisky looked back and saw her struggling son in Sans grasp before he gave him to her. "We're going home. No more missions." Still, Frisk was far from happy. She looked back toward Sans. "Thanks."

He nodded and went back over to his booth. "Have a good life, Frisky. Keep throwing a few good jokes in it for the kid, too."

"Oh." Frisky looked toward the Ruins. "So. Yeah, I . . ."

"I know what you're thinking," Sans muttered. "I liked them too. No Monster deserves to go, but a reboot isn't what you think it is. So, you better get going, Frisky."

"Whether it is or not. I get it." She tried to smile. "Thank you for being a good prison guard."

Sans pulled out the MP. "Don't worry, there's no connection to you with this thing either. So, up you go." He pointed towards Waterfall.

"Really shouldn't be leaving," Frisk said as his mom held him. "I know I shouldn't be leaving."

"We're free, and it's time to go home."

"So more people can jump in me?" he said bitterly

Frisky rubbed his back.

"They won't," Sans said strolling over to him and ruffled his hair. "Have fun, kid. Stop letting people jump in ya so much. Keep up the laughs and practice your jokes. You'll be okay." He looked toward Frisky. "Get a pet dog too."

"Well, he does like dogs," Frisky answered.

"About as much as you," Sans reminded her. "Better get going before X doesn't mark the ** _spot_** anymore."

"True." A little bit of humor for her son. "Come on. Let's go find the X."

"Eh." Frisk didn't really seem enthused. He'd get better when he returned back to base.

"Don't forget this ol' bag of bones," Sans said as he gave him the lightest of noogies. "But, get out there and start living. You'll be happier you did."

"Cheer up," Frisky said, trying to help him out as they walked.

"Don't I get to say goodbye to Papyrus?" Frisk asked. "Momma? How come he couldn't come to this too?" _Hmmm . . ._ "Sans, why couldn't Papyrus come say goodbye?"

Sans didn't really move. "Better get going." He turned away and headed back behind his booth. Knowing the way Sans worked, Frisky just moved ahead. Sans was never big on goodbyes.

"What are you hiding from your brother?" Frisk yelled at him from his mother's shoulder.

That made him jostle a bit, but he just waved.

* * *

"Frisk?" Honestly. Frisk was ready to have a temper tantrum because he didn't want to leave. He was usually a good boy, but when his temper flared, he could be one feisty six-year-old soldier. Frisky kept moving. "That's no way to talk to him just because you are angry. Do you have any idea what he's done for us?"

"No, because nobody tells me anything," he said bitterly.

"Sweetie, calm down. If you don't, they are going to give you a shot when you get back," she reminded him. "You've got to be a good boy."

"Like you can talk. You're hiding a lot too. How can I trust you?" He scoffed. "I can feel how much everyone's lying to me, and I'm even gonna leave with more lies. And you're just putting on a pretty face, but I can see beneath it."

Oh, not again. "95451, you better not start that tone with me."

"What happened in the Underground? Why won't you tell me?" he asked. "I ask and I ask. Whenever we go on other missions, you always fill me in at least at the end. But, this is the end, and you won't tell me anything about what my own _body_ was used for here." He grunted as he pointed behind them. "Like her too." Frisk pointed as Alphys waved at him from behind. "Why's she following behind us?"

Alphys was shy, she wouldn't walk side by side as much. Frisky knew that. However, Frisk's attitude was still red hot. "That is Alphys. Say goodbye to Mettaton for me, Alphys? And Undyne. I know we got off on the wrong . . . foot."

"Who's the dinosaur?" Frisk asked. " _How_ do we know her?"

"Oh. When your mom was FRISK, uh, well, uh. She and I met. Well, not quite. I mean, well, I watched her on cameras, but, um, we met before I just don't . . . um, hi?"

"Oh, that reminds me," Frisky said, remembering where the events had turned. "You should read the letters."

"What letters?"

"Letters beneath your door. You should read them," Frisky smiled. That would also help both of them out. Finding each other. She wouldn't be the one pulling Undyne and Alphys together, but they would find their own ways.

"I can feel it," Frisk interrupted the peaceful conversation. "It was bad. I want to know. Why was Undyne trying to kill me? Why did MK tell me Undyne was even trying to kill me when I first met him?"

"We are PACIFIST soldiers and we do not mess with the Monsters," his mother said a little rougher. "They fear you, but you stay strong. That is the first lesson and you know it. Now, quiet. We are almost there."

"I don't want another shot."

"A shot?" Alphys asked in concern, moving a little closer than before. "Is he getting a shot?"

"Yeah. Have to make sure my soul doesn't fill up. I gotta _stay_ a conduit for any emergency mission," Frisk sniffed. "Sans was too confused with mom's words, he missed it. Mom lied to him."

"It wasn't a lie. Just, we don't need to focus on that."

"My soul can repair, but they have to keep damaging it."

"Ohh." Alphys made a slight moan. "Frisky? Is that true?"

"Don't. Worry. The chances of him being called back are very slim. And there won't be any shots yet, if he's a good boy." Frisky patted his head. "Imagine. You could go back, play games, and see your friends before we start a new life." She tried to tickle him to make him laugh, but it wasn't working.

"Ugh?!"

Frisky looked back at Alphys as she made a strange sound. "What?"

"N-nothing! I just remembered, I have something super important to do. Five minutes, tops?" Alphys stepped backward. "Just, uh, wait here for me?"

Strange. Frisky watched her leave.

"I want to know what happened," Frisk started on her again. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Hon, I can't tell you right now."

"Ooooooh, I think you should!"

"What?" Frisky looked down and saw Flowey. Snowdin would have been a cold place for him, but why was he there now? "Oh, Flowey."

"Mmmm. You know what sucks, little Frisk?" Flowey answered. "Parents never listen to kids. But, I'm not a parent. I know what's going on. I _listen_."

Frisky took off. Forget the five minute wait. It would probably turn into a thirty minute wait anyhow, and she wasn't sticking around for Flowey around Frisk. "Flowey, I'm sorry. No games, not with my son."

"Who are you?" Frisk asked him.

"Frisk, don't talk to him."

"Oh by all means, don't talk, Frisk, to the honest flower! I just know that _you_ didn't just have a bite to eat with Sans. He battled you over, and over, and over! You _died_ thousands of times by his hands!"

"Flowey!" Frisky yelled.

"Momma doesn't want her baby boy to know the truth. Well, well, well. It's funny, isn't it? They keep soooo much from you. But, I know, you've been keeping something from them toooo." Flowey moved back into the ground and popped up just ahead of them. "I remember everything in the Underground. I know everything in the Underground. You know who else remembers a little too besides you? Sans the Skeleton. He remembers plenty about killing you."

"Frisk, don't listen," Frisky warned him. "I will explain everything in better detail later."

"She doesn't know everything. Mommy doesn't know everything."

"Flowey."

"She lies to you just as bad as the Skeleton did, but she still doesn't know much _at all_."

"Flowey!"

"About the Ruins, the Monsters, or even **Balancers**."

"Balancers?" Frisky looked down at Flowey. How did he know that? "You just know the Underground."

"Sure I do, just like I'm an average flower that manages to keep my mind after every one of your sickening resets. I wouldn't know a thing about conduits. Re-reeeeesets. Why, I'm sure I know nothing more at all." He laughed. "I also know why they didn't give you an MP ni-ine, and it wasn't because of discontinuation. It's because that model has a more forward communication program in it, where you can see . . . what's going on with _everyone_ down here in the Underground. They didn't give it to you, because they don't want you to know." He chuckled whimsically. "Your real mission. Lots of communication down in the Ruins, you know."

Frisk cringed. Flowey's face became evil looking. Then, it fixed itself. "Mom, how do you know this guy?"

"I'm special, with a lot of DETERMINATION," Flowey answered. "I also got really, really, **bored** of the same thing over and over, so, I . . . want to make doubly sure that nothing brings us back into that kind of hell."

"Sans will do no such thing," Frisky answered. There was no stopping Flowey from talking, and the more she ignored him, the worse he would become. He just popped out of the ground, and back in front of them constantly. Strange. Usually he'd say something and just leave until a battle. But, as long as she kept moving forward, she'd get to that X.

"He would for family," Flowey said darkly. "He did _lose_ family. He doesn't want to _lose_ anymore."

"Papyrus is going to be fine," Frisky insisted. "You said it yourself, the resets are over. He's either going to reboot or not. It's up to him, but I'm not involved anymore. I'm going home." She would not let Flowey get to her. He always knew things, popped up, spied, and kept secrets. This was no different.

"Might as well turn around then. There's no way he'll let you go when he finds ooouuut." Flowey's face turned big and dark. "You will never see your world again. Before this is over, you'll be trapped in the Underground, forever."

"Leaving right now," Frisky said stubbornly. "Should have bothered me earlier. What, too cold to stay in a conversation? Pop by long enough to find a few secrets and move off?"

"Sans won't let family go."

"Papyrus will be fine."

"I never said it was Papyrus." Flowey's face fixed itself all nice again. "Toodles! I'll see you at the X."

"Who was that?" Frisk asked again. "Mom? What's he talking about with Sans' family?"

"Um. Well." The Forgotten Creatures. Gaster. No, no, different topic. "That flower was Flowey. He was once a nice, pleasant boy. Now it's complicated to explain. You see, Monsters do their own experiments down here too," she settled on. "Flowey doesn't feel anything."

"He's a flower. Why's he a flower?"

"Well, his dust was different I suppose. He joined his soul with a sister he had. She was human. They were as strong as the very first Balancers." At least he was asking about easier things. Actually, if she just filled him in on Flowey and some of the history of the Underground, maybe it would be enough to reach the X. She just didn't want to get into all the grisly details yet.

After a few minutes of explanation though, Frisk interrupted her.

"Wait." Frisk lifted his head to look at his mom. "Everything went bad because of an accident?" She nodded her head. "Mom. This ship knows everything about the Underground. All the locations, all the items left behind. Why would they miss something like that?"

"I don't know."

"Mom. They _wouldn't_."

Frisky stopped and looked at him. "They took years to plan Mission Surface Seven. They wouldn't jeopardize it like that."

"Flowey said Sans tried to kill me."

"It's complicated." She started to walk again. "It's really complicated." _Give me an encounter or something to distract him. Where are all the encounters?_

"Is he how we busted out?"

"Yes," she muttered. "Really. I don't want to concentrate on this yet. Give it time, okay? Sans is a _friend_. He's good. He's . . . uh, things were difficult."

"That's how we got small, you got mixed up with his data because he was in the way?"

"Yes."

"But _my_ body was already here, so why would I get mixed up in teleportation? I guess it doesn't matter. Technically not human."

"You are human. Conduits are human," Frisky tried to convince him. "You are my boy, you are human, and we are going home. I promise. These negative thoughts, they are going to disappear very soon. You need to stop worrying about an emergency where you would need to be used. Okay? Those chances are slim anyhow since they'd have to replenish memories again. We'll be civilian. We won't have any of our memories from when we were soldiers. You and I, we'll have a house and a car and a new life waiting for us because we've paid our dues. Please, cheer up." She really needed to do something. "How about a joke? Let's see."

"No, I'm not. Flowey knows it."

"Knock-knock."

"How are re-resets created, mom?"

"From humans, Frisk, which is why you really need to cheer up. Okay? Come on, be a sport." She tried to tickle her son. "Guess what? Both of us will finally meet your grandparents too. Remember all the letters they sent? We'll be going with them. I don't know where it is, but I will be given back my old memories from before I was a soldier. And you, you will almost have a fresh slate of memories too. When that happens, I will be able to tell you all about them. And, that will be good? And I'm sure it's a beautiful place where you can make friends, go to school, and be a _normal_ kid." She rubbed his back again. "Just keep your spirits high. A home that's ready for us, full of people who will just love you to bits, it's just around the corner."

"No, it's not." Flowey popped up right by her foot. "You know what the best thing about this is?" He cackled. "I don't know what's going to happen! I've been bugging you, so for all I know, maybe Sans put two and two together. Or maybe he's just sleeping. Or maybe the little conduit's put it together. Or maybe no one has figured out anything and you'll just leave the Underground forever. Or maybe you'll just be trapped down here forever. Ooh, goodie! I can barely contain the excitement!"

The X was just ahead, right where the sign that teased about failing a puzzle lied. Fitting. She set Frisk down and went to fetch four flowers to reach the spot.

"How often has the flower lied?" Frisk asked her.

"That's complicated too," Frisky told him. "He can tell the truth, but you shouldn't trust him for accurate information. Just, enjoy the company, I suppose."

"Sure, enjoy the company," Flowey whispered as he appeared by the boy's foot. "So? Tell me? Did you figure it all out?"

Frisk rubbed his shoulder.

"Ooooh. Are you going to tell her, or wait? Or do you think your mommy would even listen? Because parents never _listen_. If you tell her, she'll probably say you're seeing things that aren't there. Then again, your mom isn't really on the same level to even understand it, is she?" Flowey popped away from his foot, and showed up at the other one. "I'll be over in the other corner, ready to watch the fireworks."

Finally. Frisky stayed in her spot. She wasn't surprised Sans didn't give her the MP back, but she didn't need it. It was a convenience, but as long as this was the spot they expected to sense a human in, it should work. Otherwise, there would have been at least access to one during her mission before the big error.

Although, what Flowey was saying was bothering her. Did he know something about Sans family? Was it the reason he refused to reboot? She had no control of whether he rebooted or not, and she didn't know what the Balancers would do if he didn't. But, the mission was over. The Underground wasn't her concern anymore. It was just . . . _Maybe I should have told him about his family? I'm sure he would have said it was pointless. Different timelines didn't matter._ _So, why did he say that? Is_ _Flowey_ _saying there is a way I can recover the_ _erased back again to him? Or is he just messing with me one more time before we leave?_

She tried to ignore his shooting stems all over the place too, especially on the walls. _If he's trying to block us, it won't work. Teleportation doesn't work that way._ Not that she would say that out loud. She'd had enough of Flowey that day.

Frisky waited for the silvery stream to come down upon her, but instead saw . . . multiple streams . . . many multiple streams around her. "Oh no." Was she getting arrested? If everything was fine, she'd have gone straight up, but others were coming down, beaming around her. She moved out from the corner of the stream, almost falling into the water.

* * *

Flowey shook his petals to prepare himself as he grew his stems all around. _Over here. Over there. Some over there._ Flowey usually used a seed attack, but this time, that wouldn't do any good. He'd have to use his much smaller known magic.

Growing. Growing his roots and stems. While those two Frisks were messing around and just standing there looking up like idiots, he'd been working all around. He couldn't just grow it like a jungle though, he was going to have to snap himself out of the situation fast without getting tangled. That meant some fast thinking because it was obvious what would happen next. He pulled himself back into the ground and popped up just a little beside the moron in charge that came to confront them.

"95452. You finally accomplished the mission, congratulations." The Frisk who called herself Frisky noticed the appearance of the moron beside Flowey. The idget clapped as he came over toward her. "Good job."

"Accomplished the mission?" The mom Frisk held her son tighter as she saw more streams of people coming. "I don't understand, Sir?"

 _Of course not. If you did you would have taken the Ruins, silly._ Flowey just pulled himself back into the ground and pulled a move he rarely pulled. He started to climb his own stems. He moved over around the top of the area, right above the Frisks.

"Doesn't matter now," the idiot from before kept speaking. "You can go home to your loving family, isn't that what matters? We just need that little conduit right there now." He pointed to the boy. "Don't be stupid, 95452. You're completely surrounded. There's no way to get out, or we would have waited for this until you were on board."

"Then why didn't you?" Frisky growled, keeping her son close.

 _Ooh, look at that. Momma can get primal. Ha_ _ha_ _. Can't grab him yet then, not until she's desperate enough._

"Lots of interference, can't track anything, it's like a fog down here, and we aren't risking losing it."

"No way!" The mom tried to hold onto her son, but more soldiers were coming to get him. "What's going on?!"

"It's alright, you and the boy are going to be safe. Hell, it's like _royalty_ now." The human held out his own MP and talked into it.

 _Ah, target number two. Come to_ _Flowey_ _. . ._

"What is taking so long? It's _still_ jammed? Find another way to bypass it!" The annoying human rolled his eyes. "Technical difficulties. What is with all the technical difficulties?"

"Good!" The momma moved backward with the boy and fell into the water. Other soldiers tried to grab her, but she tried to swim upstream. Except that area just wasn't very big.

"Where are you going to go?" Her boss taunted her. "You're free, just hand over the conduit and give in."

 _Now. Now she's desperate._

* * *

"I really, really don't want a reboot."

Frisky held her son close, but she saw Flowey from above. His stems were still reaching all over the place. All over, but they were coming straight for her son. Knowing that her trust was low in Flowey, but non-existent in her team now, she had no choice. She loosened her grip and watched Frisk sail up into his stems.

"I really didn't want to save the day. This is ridiculous."

Her superior cried for assistance as his arm was wrapped around by Flowey as his loose stems took his MP. Soldiers tried to shoot, but Flowey just laughed.

"Sure! Like it would be that easy. Toodles, and thanks for the MP thing. Been wanting to collect _this_ one for years!" Flowey flung the boy high into the air, and then his whole body snapped like a rubber band back to it's original shape too fast for anyone to do anything about it.

"Why wasn't that tracked?!"

"It's not really deemed a Monster, sir. It was one of the Guardians."

Frisky remained still, hoping Flowey knew what the heck it was doing. "Why are you coming after my son? You have plenty of conduits. He earned his freedom just like I did." Her boss wasn't answering though, and soldiers started to swim toward her and grab her.

"Bring her to the transport area," her boss demanded. "At the very least, we've got her. He'll have to come back if he wants his momma again."

* * *

Frisk yelled as he saw the ground approaching fast. _No way, I won't be able to survive that!_ "Aaaahhhhh!"

"Ooh, uppsa daisy!" Flowey said grabbing him again. "Enjoy the ride? Let's do it again. This time, aim for Snowdin, silly!"

Aim? He couldn't do that. "You know I can't do that! Aaaahhhh!"

Flowey just chuckled as he went back underground.

* * *

"Uh, Sans?" Alphys voice stirred him as she touched the arm of his coat. "Hi. I just need to ask you about something. Probably quick. I don't know if she's going to wait for me."

Sans tried to get some sleep. Decent sleep was hard on that couch of theirs. Not only that, but it was always easier to deal with things when he just slept his time away. "What is it?"

"I was following along, talking to Frisky, when I saw something wrong with her son." Alphys twiddled her fingers. "His hand. It . . . changed?"

* * *

"Floooooowwweeeeeyyyyyyyy!"

"Hello!" Flowey popped up high into the air with a nice smile and grabbed him again. "Look, you made it! Brr, it's cold," he complained. "Come on, it's time to say a big hello to someone."

"Are you going to fling me again?" Frisk asked.

"Nope!"

Frisk screamed again as, this time, he felt himself going underground with Flowey.

* * *

"Looookyyyy what the stoooork brooought!" Flowey laughed as he showed up behind Sans post. Sans stood up immediately. "Long time no see?" He tossed the boy into Alphys arms. "Good catch!"

"Chance?" Sans still seemed stunned to see Flowey. "What's going on?"

"NEUTRAL, formerly PACIFIST, soldiers are chasing your other Frisk down. Funny, huh? Shouldn't be the type." Flowey giggled. "Type, that's funny, isn't it?" He turned his entired petal head around. "Oh, come on, not even a giggle? That's what I get for bringing him back to you? But, he's not really meaningful to you . . . yet. You'll know the _second_ time around with my something special." Flowey's face turned dark as he cackled before he left.


	15. Broken Soul

**Sans and Papyrus' House. Three Days Later . . .**

"Look." Papyrus watched Sans lying his head on the table. "I don't . . . I don't get this funk you are in."

"I'm not in a funk," Sans denied. "I'm fine. See?" He chuckled. "Totally fine."

"I am," Chance said from his back. He hugged Sans around his neckbone. "I want momma back."

"I know, Chance." Sans patted the human's head laying on his back shoulder bone.

"Um." Papyrus didn't know what to do. It had been three days since the human mother disappeared and left her little boy. Sans insisted she'd come back, but so far there had been no sign. Since then, Sans had been acting . . . strange. He even gave the human a new name. A new name, he _named_ the human.

He knew his brother often held his feelings in and faked being more happy for him, but _everyone_ around Snowdin felt it. He and Sans had only been around the humans for a couple days. A couple. Yet, from his actions, it would seem it had been longer.

And his behavior. No Grillbys. No spaghetti. Not even a hot dog. He ate catsup all day with nothing of substance. Not that Sans needed much substance, but that wasn't Sans. Papyrus could understand the sadness of the human 'Chance'. His mother was gone, but it didn't describe San's strange behavior. How had the humans had such a strong effect on his brother?

Papyrus had not said anything about it so far, but things needed to return to normal. When he heard the door, he smiled. "I'll get it!" He knew who it had been, he'd called for her help earlier. Sans needed to get his mind off of the humans, and the best way to do that, was with Undyne's help. "Undyne! Greetings, good to see you!"

Undyne stepped into the house and looked over at Sans. "Okay, I got one." She touched her scaly head. "I can't believe I have to do this for you, Papyrus." She moved over toward Sans. "Sans the Skeleton. I need the thing on your back."

"Huh?" Sans looked back toward Chance, then at her. "No."

"No?" Undyne looked toward Papyrus. "You're brother just told me no."

"He's, um, like I said, in a bit of a strange funk," Papyrus said as he came back over to Sans. "It's okay, Undyne promises _not_ to hurt him. She just needs him, Brother."

Sans pulled Chance off his own back with some small assistance. Papyrus thought that was it, but Sans just put him on his lap. "I know what Undyne wants. Frisky is coming back for him, just give her time."

"Sans," Undyne groaned at him. "What is wrong with you? Why are you so attached, literally _attached_ , to this human?" She came over and tried to take him forcefully, but Sans just stood up.

"You're not good," Sans accused her, his eye sockets going dark, "with human scum. Don't touch him."

"Fine." Undyne pushed a piece of paper into Papyrus' chest. "That address is of a Monster family that will watch the little boy until, or if, it's human mother returns. If Sans doesn't trust me, then he can just trust you." With those words, she left out the door. "I can't believe I have to put up with this."

Papyrus looked at the paper. That didn't go the way he wanted it to. "It's not very far. That's good." He smiled at Sans. "Not far at all, Brother. Simple family. Snowdin. Not carnivorous. That's a good match."

"What?" Sans actually seemed shocked at him. "No way, Chance is human. There's been plenty of room. He's three times smaller than me so he doesn't even take up that much space."

"Yeah," Chance agreed. "I want to stay with Sans."

"Sans? Uh. I just feel it's better to let the little human go? You're getting funkier by the day." Papyrus rubbed his head. "You already seem to have a strange bond with this human, even stronger than with our other human friend, and we have known it longer. I think? I am pretty sure." He tried to reach for Chance, but Sans just stepped back. "Now that the mother is gone, you seem to be . . . holding him a lot?" That was putting it mildly. Sans wouldn't even put him down for more than a few seconds.

Chance climbed up further on Sans' shoulder, and Sans didn't mind. At all. Again. "His mom is gone right now. He doesn't know anyone in the Underground except us. Until Frisky comes back, I don't see what the big deal is." Sans headed off. "I have to get to work. Come on, Chance." He patted his head. "You want to see if Monster Kid wants to play? Might cheer you up more again."

Chance just shook his head.

"Oh, what about them?" Papyrus suggested. "Monster Kid would keep him company if maybe his family watched him? For a few days? A day? A sleepover?"

Sans didn't reply as he just headed out. "You're overreacting. You don't know Frisky, she'll be back."

"But . . . but . . . you don't know her that well either!" Papyrus shouted at him.

* * *

 **Lab**

"Ummm . . ." Alphys held her finger up, wanting to tell Sans something. But, she didn't know if she should. For the last three nights, Sans had been coming into her lab to use it's strength to pull Frisky back. "Sans?"

"I know she's right there." Sans just pointed to Alphys large monitor. "Blinking red light. If we could just . . . pull her safely down. If we just had more power."

"Well, um, I have some good news." Alphys came over. Maybe some interesting news would knock him out of his strange state. "Well, I don't know if it's good. It's different news? I don't really understand it, but well, I'll just let you meet her."

"Meet her?" Ooh, Sans looked crossed. "This is secrecy for secrecy."

"Oh, it's not another Monster!" Alphys insisted. "It's the barrier. I mean, it's near the barrier." She was clearly losing him, so she moved toward the right of the lab. "Come this way, and I'll introduce you to an unusual spirit."

"Yeah. That sounds fun." Sans followed her over. She started to play around with some coordinates and sound waves.

"This is going to be really strange, but just watch the screen." Alphys spoke into a microphone nearby. "Ch-Chara? Hello again."

Sans listened a few seconds before he heard a groan.

 **"Can't a spirit ever sleep?"**

"Sorry, yes, I just wanted Sans to meet you." Alphys moved out of the way of the microphone. "She said that she used to be King Asgore's daughter."

Awww, now that was interesting. Sans came up to the microphone. "Hiya. Sup. Frisky said to say thanks."

 **"Yeah, well, when everyone bows out, it's good to have someone. Without someone, it gets really hard to do the right thing. But, she didn't need to thank me. I put her through my own tests too."**

Tests? "What do you mean 'tests'?"

 **"She used to be like the others. Kind of. Her personality was way too ashamed to meet you again, whether you remembered her or not. But, she used to always bow out of** **trying to take control in that** **little Judgment Hall moment when FRISK committed genocide. All of them used to. After all, there was no reason to try. A lot of Monsters were dead.** **Actually, even after one Monster died, they had to restart their mission.** **Giving up was just a better idea by that point."**

"Wait." Hang on. "You're the reason she kept hitting Mercy in Judgment Hall?"

 **"Once, just once. I mean . . . I'm not really human. The way I feel is . . . corrupted. Sometimes, I feel like a computer soul more than a human soul. An object. Nothing anyone can see or talk too. Nothing. Honestly, I'm just another Forgotten Creature."**

"No one forgot you. Your mom and dad I bet still remember you."

 **"Do you know how it feels to look at your mom, and yet not really care if you ate her pie or killed her? That was me. That is me. And that's not me. And inside that thing, FRISK, I get pulled. Pulled in so many ways. I don't even really care anymore. I don't want to exist anymore, but I don't get a choice. I just . . . linger. I'm stuck. And now, I'm freaking stuck to some** **barrier."**

"Oh. Sorry to hear that?"

 **"Great words of comfort, Sans. Heard better. But you don't really care about me."**

"Do too. I cared about Frisk. Little Frisk. Big Frisk. Not so much for genocidal Frisk, but . . . probably most of them?" He reckoned.

"Huh?" Chance was stirring on his back. "Chara?"

 **"Oh, hey there** **I** **tty** **B** **itty. Sleeping?"**

"Hi, Chara." Chance waved to the microphone. "Mom's missing."

 **"I'm in a barrier,** **I** **tty** **B** **itty. Can't do much. Just, stuck. Always stuck because no one ever thought a real human would come** **this way** **that didn't have some stupid programming agenda** **back then! No, it took six damn stupid other kids to make that same mistake before they were like 'hmm, maybe we should put something up to stop curious kids, huh?' Idiots** **. So, yeah. I just mostly sleep. Let time tick on by** **."**

"Oh." Chance groaned. "Okay."

 **"** **Hey.** **Itty** **B** **itty** **doesn't sound so hot."**

"He's . . ." Sans cleared his throat. "So are you saying even human souls can't break through that barrier? You just linger?"

 **"I can't go into a re-reset if that's what your asking. So yeah, linger. Stuck. I tried to get FRISK to hit erase on this world more than once. When I kept getting refusals, that other side of me stepped in. When you're already with a bunch of souls, it's easy to forget who you are. What makes you. To stay stronger, I may have sucked a little much on some of the underparts that didn't do much. But you know what? Screw '** **em** **. At least, that's what I believed until Frisky proved me wrong. And don't say I talk too much either because I never get to talk to anyone anymore! And even when I could,** **there were** **only a few of the Frisks I could stand talking to."**

"Proved you wrong? Judgment Hall?"

 **"She made me a deal. I set the circumstances, and if she beat it, I would stop messing with all the souls inside FRISK. So, yeah. I set it. I made her fight you. I made her fight you all alone. Do you know what happens when every soul, including mine, goes to sleep? The pain is held only for her** **. There's no division. She felt every shattering blow of her soul and body all alone. She did it long enough that . . . I guess . . ."**

"You felt something?" Sans pushed.

 **"I don't know if the word is feel. As a lingering soul, I just . . . it's hard. It's hard to do that anymore. You've no idea how long I've really been around. If I couldn't sleep when I wanted to, I would do nothing but scream. But I came to understand her. Especially after she did it again, and again, and again. She pushed her soul to it's limits just to try and take back** **control. To not reset, but** **to just keep going and do the right thing. Even the others got inspired to help. Funny, huh? Fighting to regain control when the mission couldn't be completed anyhow. I forget what she exactly said when I asked her why she was torturing herself now with it. I think it was something like 'it may not matter now, but my DETERMINATION will be stronger, and maybe I will have more strength for** **the next round** **when it does count** **.' Okay, not the exact words, but close enough. She had about as much DETERMINATION as I did, so somehow we seemed to get along.** **Anyhow,** **I** **le** **t them** **all** **be, until I finally found more of a purpose. The itty bitty on your back. Even when parts of FRISK couldn't keep their emotions under control, I helped.** **No one's better at stomping emotions than I am. I** **e** **specially had to help with** **Friskay** **. You meet her yet?"**

"No. Just Frisk, Frisky and uh. PERSEVERANCE, but he's gone."

 **"Yeah** **, y** **ou won't forget her when you do. Itty Bitty would have been really bad off without me after awhile with her. Way not blending.** **I mean, she was KINDNESS, but she was that kind of kindness that was like . . . 'I will take a bullet for you, but I'm going to tell you how much you suck while I'm doing it' kind of girl.** **PERSEVERANCE too.** **Uh,** **I don't know. I was like a babysitter. I didn't mind it that much, Itty Bitty gave me** **,** **you know. Some** **purpose again."**

"Um. That's all really great," Alphys said approaching the microphone. "But, can we maybe go over the little conversation we had earlier with Sans? I've been running some calculations, and I think it could be done. You're right."

"What?" Sans asked Alphys.

 **"Oh, well excuse me for not staying on topic. I didn't mean to interrupt your schedule. I just** **sleep most of the time, stuck to a barrier and I figured I** **wanted to talk a little** **while** **. Forgive me, yellow little** **dino** **nerd** **."**

"I didn't mean it like that," Alphys apologized. "Um, I promise. I just-"

 **"** **Grillby's** **should carry chocolate bars for dessert. A** **Grillby** **burger, fries, and a chocolate bar. Damn, that would have been great. I wish it was around when I was alive** **. Then maybe I could have got dad to do it. A trinity of happiness.** **Hey,** **Alphabetty** **, did you ever have a** **Grillby** **burger? Best. Better when catsup doesn't land all over them though."**

"MTT's more of my thing. Closer. But, I'm sure they are good," Alphys said. "Anyhow, I don't want to interrupt. I don't. I don't want to be rude, but do you think-"

 **"I get it. Look, a** **way from the influence of the bad part of FRISK, I've got a little more sense again.** **Multiple souls in one body, it's not easy. Seriously. That joining, that takes some real training. I suddenly knew recipes for cabbage, 200 different kinds of guns, a thousand knock-knock jokes, and how to dance with a high kick. The souls all seem to share so much, so fast, it's crazy. So. Crazy. But now. Getting away from all that** **, I remember more of what I was. Who I was. And why I wanted to destroy all of mankind."**

"Okay, maybe a bit less strong?" Alphys suggested.

 **"Not strong enough. Not nearly strong enough. Even back then, I wandered in here of my own will to try and help** **'cause** **none of those official people were going to. And, and I saw the start of it. I saw the turn. I came here** **because I met my first re-reset.** **They were brand new in the early 2000 years** **. I was just like every other kid though. How could it affect me? But then I watched my friend become one. It was just in his genes, they said. I watched my friend barely walk with** **help, just shambling away to apparently die. And, and it kicked in. No. No way. But, that's what it was. Humanity's future.** **I never told anyone why I really hated humanity** **. I didn't want anyone knowing the truth, they'd be happier not knowing.** **I mean, I could have said something, but that wouldn't have made any difference. Everyone would have gotten scared, and then it would all just reset. As long as I was a good little girl, no one was going to budge me. I was too close to the Monsters. To take me would be disturbing the habitat even more to them.** **B** **ut I'm dead, and you already know** **all those details** **. So, yeah. Welcome to the hell of humanity.** **It hasn't changed a bit. Well, that's not true. It just got worse.** **It needs to end."**

"Well, there are some good. That's not exactly what we were discussing?" Alphys said gently. "Chara?"

 **"** **O** **h, yeah. The positive part. I don't mean wipe out mankind** **.** **I mean keep them out of here so I can** ** _finally_** **rest in peace."**

"There. Yes, that's better." Alphys gave Sans a thumbs up. "So . . . do you think you're up to making a barrier of our own?"

"Another barrier?"

"Yeah, but . . . this one would be used to make sure they stay out?"

Oooohh. "Barrier inside a barrier would make it even tougher to get in."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. 'Cause we already have our skies so . . . let's just make sure they can't do the same thing again?"

"A barrier to stop resets. To stop souls from joining forces." With their technology, they could reverse it and duplicate it to create another barrier but. "They'd be equal."

"Not really. 'Cause um. Their barrier is just a barrier. Ours would have-"

 **"DETERMINATION of one mad spirit."**

" . . . yeah, that." Alphys chuckled nervously as she turned off the microphone. "I'll admit, it sounds tricky. But, if Chara is a soul that feels like she doesn't really feel . . . a-and you said that thing about Flowey. I mean, I thought it was the lack of soul and just nothing but DETERMINATION, but what if-"

"The souls could never escape and it's the barrier itself affecting them," he finished for her. Sans shoved his hands in his coat pockets and jingled them. There was only a slight disturbance of the sound of hot dog wrappers in his coat. "This is the biggest **_bone-headed_** idea I've ever seen. I don't know if it's brilliant or psychotic."

"Well, we could turn off the barrier if there are any problems?" Alphys suggested. "She doesn't seem to have a problem with Monsters though. Just, humans. Well, and she had a few choice word for Balancers, but I told her not to talk about that. I-I think it's more of the human side of them she hates anyhow."

"Yeah, no, 'cause enslaving humans was totally fine too," Sans confronted her on that issue. He knew Alphys didn't want to second-guess the situation. It was a great idea, but it wasn't all just the humans.

"After the DETERMINATION is used for the barrier, she might finally be able to disappear too? I think she wants to disappear more than anything. She's ready to really move on," Alphys tried harder to convince him. "We could unplug if things get bad but, I mean . . ." She gestured toward Chance on his back. "She was his babysitter?"

"If we put up a second, and allowed us to only go through it, we could get Frisky back and they couldn't zap her away again," Sans realized. "Let's do it."

"Well, we don't have that kind of power yet," Alphys had to admit. "But one day when we do have enough power, we could get it done. I just wanted to talk about it as a possible option. I have the papers and some calculations for it. It wouldn't take long to put up because we don't need any resetting, save, continue, or anything like that. We could focus it on more important things. Like, even if someone got down here, we could make sure they couldn't join forces and make a conduit, you know?"

"Mm."

"Okay, maybe I should have said that earlier? Oh, but how about this? I discovered how to tell the re-resets apart, the body teleportation, and their journey trail. So I am close to breaking into the re-resets now to get the trapped souls." She went back over to her computer and showed him. "See? It's kind of tricky. I mean, three things going on at once. Body, soul, re-reset. Someone could essentially be torn into multiple places at once with the wrong calculations. But I think we could do it with what we know. We just need a little more . . . power again." She groaned slightly. "But, still! It's a nice option?"

"Great. It'd be nice to have Toriel and them back someday," Sans agreed. It was a minimal smile though, and he was moving back to his original position. His eye sockets were still on the blinking light on the screen. Frisky's location.

"You know." Alphys didn't know if she should push it, but she had to try. She'd already given him so much more to go on, and he was still just _focusing_ on Frisky. "I have a back little bed for long nights in the lab. Pillow. Small. Simple?" She moved over toward Sans back. "Maybe you would rather let Chance rest there?"

"He's fine, I need to hunch over anyway," Sans said as he set back to work.

"Oh, it's really no trouble," Alphys said softly. "He's just sort of lying there. Let me just grab him."

"No, don't touch." Sans turned to look at her. "Leave him alone."

"Well, Sans? Has your brother, Papyrus, has he maybe shared any thoughts with you?" Alphys said gently. "About Chance? Maybe you are getting too close?" He didn't answer back, still mad at her for her earlier words. This was getting serious. "He's so cute when he sleeps. Can I touch his cheek if I'm really gentle?"

"No." Sans glared at the computer screen now.

"Sans, if we get Frisky back, you'll have to stop this." Alphys said it. "I mean, he's a nice boy and all, but he'll have to go back up with Frisky eventually. Once we find out what the problem had been."

"I know that, but Frisky shouldn't be up there right now either." His voice was getting harsher. "She was going up, so why did they do that? Why over a hundred teleporting signatures surrounding her, Alphys?"

"I don't know. Maybe they found out that you know about the snow in Snowdin? Looking up too much?" Alphys suggested. "I probably look up too much. It's just that, I like to see that sky. I love the extra light I can see too, but I just want to stare up at it. Everyone should know about it."

"I shouldn't have told you yet. We can tell everyone when Frisky gets home."

Buh? Did he even catch what he just said? "Sans, what did you say?"

"Not until Frisky is safe."

Uh uh. That's not what he said. _I really have to do this?_ "Sans? I-I would keep the boy safe. If anything happens, and Frisky can't come back? I have plenty of room here. I have a life that I could share with someone. Um, and I don't think I'll ever get married. Worst case scenario? I would take in . . ."

The mood was disturbed as a strange farting sound came from behind Chance. Long and low. Sans started to laugh. "He found my whoopee cushion." Chance groaned from behind him. "Hey? So loud, you wake yourself up?"

"No. Only yours are so loud I have to wake myself up," Chance chuckled, instantly knowing what he was talking about. He yawned. "Can we bring mom back yet?"

"Soon, Chance, soon," Sans told him.

"Are you sure? You've said that before. Sans."

"Honest. Even brought some of Papyrus' clothes for when we do figure it out. She'll be cool in Cool Dude. Just get some more sleep." Sans eye sockets lingered on the screen.

Alphys knew why Sans was closer to the humans than his brother did. She knew about the many different resets that created new timelines. She knew he must have met FRISK thirty times at least. Something that had the playfulness of Chance. The drive and DETERMINATION of Frisky. But . . . there was something else. Something she was missing. "Sans, why are you carrying him around like your . . . own . . ." Oh no, what was the word for Monster Skeletons? " . . . babybones?"

Sans glanced back at her. _Hard._ "Alphys. I don't want to talk about it."

"I know, but you won't even let me touch him. That's . . . you know I wouldn't hurt him. And your brother, Papyrus, and Undyne, they all just want to help. You're getting too close."

"I have to," Sans groaned. "I have to but nobody understands. And you're just going to keep pestering me too, aren't you? Fine! Take him off my back. I'll show you, but not a word to anyone."

Alphys reached for Chance. He was fast asleep again. "He sure does sleep a lot."

"Yep. Take him to the little bed you mentioned." Sans moved away from the computer and followed her over to the back corner.

"It's really comfortable. I'm sure he'll like it." Alphys laid him down in it and covered him up. "There we go."

"Yeah. Now watch him a couple of minutes." Sans moved further away from the bed.

Alphys stared at Chance, not knowing what she was supposed to see. But, after a couple of minutes, she saw it. She gasped. "What is happening to the little human?!"

"No idea. Started happening a couple of days ago." Sans came over and picked up Chance again. "All I know is when I don't hold him, he gets worse. He's sick somehow," he admitted. "I tried to get Papyrus to hold him once for a little while, when he wasn't as bad. When I could take half an hour away, but, he just kept getting sick." He looked at Chance who moaned. "It's alright buddy, Sans is here. You'll be better in a couple of minutes."

"He was glowing blue. Radiating blue." Alphys moaned. "That's not good. A-and that was your kind of . . . blue."

"Think I didn't notice?" Sans moved back toward the computer with him. "Something must have happened to him in Judgment Hall. I even took him to a healer but she said she couldn't even partially heal him without his mom. And even if she could, his soul would still . . . he's . . . broken, Alphys. When he stays around me though, he's better."

"Oh. Oh, well that's good! Does that mean you think this is temporary?" Alphys asked.

Sans helped Chance back onto his back again. "It's my fault. Judgment Hall. He's sick because of _me_. I know it and I can't shake it. I can't tell Papyrus or anyone else because no one else knows about Judgment Hall."

"Yeah," Alphys admitted, "b-but it had to be done, right? To fix stuff? And if he's slowly getting better, then that's good. Is he? Or is he . . ."

"His mom should be here before it happens," Sans confessed. "Two, three days tops." It was as close to the words he wanted to use for it, but Alphys got it.

She could tell.

Chance was dying, and Sans was the only thing keeping it from being a painful death. What a heavy burden. Before she could think of anything to say though, the computer made a sound. A default sound that meant their target was moving. "Hm?" Alphys looked toward the screen. The isolated dot was moving. Fast.

"Alphys, she's finally moving." Sans moved his skeletal fingers faster than she'd ever seen before. She tried to concentrate on her own computer.

"This is our best chance, we could try?" Alphys asked. Sans didn't even answer as he was busily working on the route. Frisky had been trapped inside an area that wouldn't allow them to pull her back. Now that she was free, they could, but the dot was moving rapidly. She was running, that was for certain.


	16. Second Time Around

"How did she break out?!"

"How do I know? I think she flirted with the guard or something!" Conner shouted.

"Special Dog wouldn't fall for that!"

"Well, then she probably petted it, gave it advice, made friends, I don't know, it's Frisky!" Conner yelled back at his team. He got on the microphone. "All NEUTRALIST soldiers, capture the evading 95452, I repeat, 95452, PACIFIST status!"

"This isn't right and you know it," Friska said looking toward Conner. "Frisky hasn't done anything." She gestured to the N on her chest. "Capturing her and having to put an N on myself. I feel so dirty."

"We have to have her. Worst case scenario, we can make something work when the guardian reboots." Conner got on the microphone and spewed out the information again.

"Do you know how sick that is?" Friska said in disgust.

"Look, I don't like it anymore than you do," Conner said. "I like 95452. Hell, I love the conduit too, and I would have taken good care of it with her if she'd just let me. But. This is bigger than petty stuff, this is freedom. Freedom to go home. _Freedom_ to let humans live the way we are supposed to. And, that's bigger than love."

"Number one, Frisky never could even stand a hug from you, so don't even try with me," Friska glared at him. "For two, if you did think of the boy like family, you wouldn't call him it."

"Whatever. It's not gonna die."

"He'll be driven insane, and his mom won't be there!" Friska grabbed her head. "This is so wrong. Ugh. I could so go for a Glamburger right now. Something to calm me down." She looked toward Conner, getting a hell of a look that warned her she was going into bad territory. "S-sorry. I know, it's my job. If I don't. I'm dead." Friska took a deep breath. "Frisky never takes the direct route. She always likes to scan around a whole area and find its weak points. She won't go too far, she'll be trying to find a great place to hide."

"Are you sure about that?" Conner warned her. "Her signature is bouncing farther away."

"She'll go right back." Friska cleared her throat. "I can't believe I have to do this. Um, trust me. When we were FRISK, she always liked going backward. Seeing how things changed. Looking for new items, searching for new allies. She will conquer the area."

"Good. You move up ahead, I'll assemble a squad."

* * *

 _Ridiculous._ _My own team._ Frisky hung onto the top bars on the ceiling of the training hall. There weren't many places she could go, anyone could pinpoint her and bring her right back, but she needed to get her son back. If she could get back to the Underground then she could get a hidden teleport ride with a direct location to a safe place instead. But why did they want her son so bad?

"Frisky? I know you are up there in the darkness. You can't hide, you know that."

 _Friska_ _._ It had to be big if even Friska betrayed her. "I don't understand. For how long were we together as FRISK? We know each other so well. If there was one person I could trust on this whole ship, it'd been you."

"Frisky." Friska grunted. "I know it looks bad, but . . . I'm sorry?" She rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just, I don't want to die. If I let you go, they'll kill me."

"Why do they want 95451? What are they planning?" Frisky asked her. "Please, Friska. How many times did we smile with the Temmies? Enjoy Cinnamon Butterscotch? Toriel's trapped you know."

"Toriel?!" Friska's jaw dropped. "No, not Toriel. She was, oh, so nice. Ooh."

Frisky knew that comment would get her. Friska's conscious arose the most around Toriel. Soldiers weren't allowed to remember their civilian life, but Frisky was brought in around 15. Friska was adopted as a soldier. There was nothing waiting for her in the future, just endless missions. There was nothing soothing she'd ever remember. Toriel brought out a more sensitive side to Friska. "Goat momma. She's trapped in a re-reset, and she's never going to get out. No one will ever reboot."

"Don't." Friska held up her hand toward Frisky. "Don't try and find something to avoid a fight with me, Frisky. He is just too important, and I really . . . I don't want to die."

"I don't want you to die either." Frisky moved along the top. "I never want anyone to die, and neither do you. Even though you wear an N on your chest, you're a PACIFIST soldier at heart."

"The primary mission." Friska's voice was breaking down and tears sparkled in her big, round eyes. "The primary mission always comes first, above everything. That's what . . . w-"

Frisky heard a sniffle and some choking. Friska was breaking down. "Pretend you can't find me. Enough time to get to a teleporter. Just a little while, please? Use this time to break into the re-resets and save Toriel. Goat momma? You know you want to free your goat momma."

"Frisky, don't. I'm not going to listen," Friska said loudly. "We have to do this. I have to do this. I'm sorry. I know you love your boy, but . . ."

"But what? Please, Friska? If you're going to turn me in, then you might as well tell me?" Frisky encouraged her. "What?"

"I'm sorry!" She shouted. "Frisky, they are going to release all the memories upon him in one blow so that he'll go crazy! While he screams from insanity, seven souls will take him over and destroy the Balancers!"

"What?!" Frisky shouted. "He can't do that, he can't handle it!"

"He is special!" Friska yelled. "And I'm sorry. I-I didn't know until you were brought on board. And . . . what are you doing? Frisky?" Friska came over closer to the corner where she could see Frisky's signature on her own MP. "They'll be coming soon, please. You'll be fine. Maybe they can wipe his mind afterwards. It'll mean freedom."

"My child," Frisky answered her. "I knew someone that once said that."

"Stop."

"All the Underground wanted little FRISK'S soul, for freedom. She said no. She battled us to keep us away, even though just taking us, to her, would have saved the world. She didn't care. She was willing to take us under her care forever."

"Frisky!"

"And when we reached the surface, she always invited us to stay with her," Frisky reminded her. "A child's soul could save them, and she said-"

"Frisky!"

"-no."

Friska fell to the ground in tears. "Oh, Toriel. I'm so sorry. She would so disappointed in me!" Friska threw her MP up at Frisk as backup started to come. "Save Frisk. Be a good momma!"

"Thank you, Friska." Frisky held onto the MP as she heard the sounds of weapons take Friska out from behind. _The cruelty of war._ She would mourn her friend's loss soon, but first, she needed to save her son. And there was only one thing on the entire planet that could save her son.

An unfeeling flower.

* * *

"Alphys." Chance opened his eyes at the dinosaur. "You like Anime."

"Oh, so you do remember me?" Alphys smiled at him. "That's nice."

"Yeah, and, um, there was also . . . a robot. He had weird legs. And-and-he was hard to beat." He started to tremble, making Sans take more notice of him.

"We've almost got your mom," Sans said, trying to take his mind in another direction. How was he starting to remember that?

Then the computer went off.

"Got her!" Alphys slammed a button down as Frisky appeared inside a tube Alphys had made to isolate it for the teleportation. "She should be in there. Sans, the clothes?"

Sans handed her Papyrus clothes and watched Alphys take off to the teleportation area. It was roughly made, and it wasn't fancy enough to accept anything but organic matter. But, it should have eliminated some external factors and brought her down safer than the explosion last time. When Alphys came back out, she grinned. "We got her!"

Frisky came out adjusting the Cool Dude top. "Did I get upgraded?" she chuckled as she saw Sans and her son. "Frisk, is he okay still?"

"He's fine." Sans approached, noticing how tall she had been again. He had seen her that tall during the conduit fight when she was stalling. _As tall as Papyrus now._ _Great._ He gestured toward his back as she came over. "He's sleeping again. He was starting to remember though." He stood on his tippy toes, getting him up high enough for her to take easier from his back.

"No, evil robot. No, no not that again! I don't want to get hit, it hurts!"

"It's okay, calm down. Center yourself, it's alright," Sans tried to cheer him up. "Hey! Remember Grillby's? That was fun. Great fun. What about Monster Kid? He's fun to play with."

"Oh I knew it!" Frisky grabbed her son quickly. "Sans, we have to get to Flowey. They did something to him from above, and I think-"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" Frisk started to yell from the top of his lungs.

Frisky quickly reached down and grabbed Sans' bony hand.

"I need you to take us to Flowey, quickly, or Frisk is going to go insane!"

"Insane?"

"They are going to make him remember _every_ timeline. Please, we need Flowey's help!"

* * *

"FLooooooweeeeeeeyyyyy!" Frisky shouted wildly. "FLooooooooweeeeeeyyyy!"

"Frisky, hang on, what's going on?" Sans asked her.

"Sans." Frisky tried to still her breath. "You have about thirty to forty resets in your head that you have a memory of. How does that feel to you?"

"There are no more resets."

"Exactly, that's how _bad_ it is, isn't it? You don't even want to think about them." Frisky held her son extra tight against her. "They are reversing the process. He will remember them all. They pushed me to eighty one time, but . . . it's just too much."

"How . . . how many?"

"Including full resets, part saves, and continues, or just reeeeeeeesets?" A familiar voice came from the ground.

"Flowey!" Frisky shouted into one of the grassy holes he often stayed around. "Please?"

"Full resets . . . part saves . . . continues . . ." Flowey popped his head up finally. "Howdy, Frisk! You're not new to the Underground at all, are ya? But, you don't know all of it!" He cackled. "Why do I hate hate hate hate hate haaaaaaaaate . . . resets? Continues? The games? The _game_. Because . . . I have said something similar to that phrase nearly 3,952 times!" He lightly laughed. "That was before your FRISK mission though . . . no, you're just a meager 892 times. Still, pretty heavy for a little six year old's mind, isn't it?"

"892?!" Frisky could barely believe it. It should have been a few months. Maybe a year, at most. 892?

"Can you help him or not?" Sans demanded.

"Mmmm . . . not without a little incentive?" Flowey smiled. "I need to be Guardian again. Give me it, and I'll give you Frisk's little innocent wiped mind baaaack." He giggled and then his face turned dark. "Or he can just remember how many different ways you beat him around with your hate and anger, ricocheting him off of massive piles of bones. Whoa, it took awhile for even momma to forget that, huh? At almost 900, he'd _never trust you again_." In a second stem that shot up from the ground was an MP player being flipped in the air as Flowey changed back to a happy face. "I'll even add a couple bonuses, just for you. I can give you a chance to save his life."

"His life?" Frisky looked toward Sans. "What's happening?"

"You better not be kidding."

"Yep. Oh but I said two bonuses, didn't I? How about . . . why is he sooooo important? Oh, you two, you don't want to miss out on that exciting one. It's _life-changing_."

"He's right, Sans," Frisky agreed. "They want him to go crazy and shove seven souls in him so that he'll take out the Balancers."

"What?" Sans looked toward her. "Couldn't any conduit do that? How's he special?"

"He's got a lot brewing up in the miii-iiiind already," Flowey reminded Sans. "Give it to me." He giggled. "If you don't, you're killing his sanity. I'm insane enough, but I suppose two is better than oooone? At least until he dies from horrific pain."

Trusting Flowey wasn't something Sans wanted to do. Flowey killed for entertainment. He could save lives, but he didn't care to. He could out the Frisks with that power. He could take out anyone. Sans grabbed the MP.

"Clock is ticking." Flower bopped his petal head around. "Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock."

"You could erase the world," Sans said, trying to think.

"Not full control," Flowey informed him. "I'm considered the backup Guardian now. I could only hold it for three hours, and . . . I don't get that kind of fun."

"He's right," Frisky confirmed. "It's a failsafe, just in case the Guardian is a little . . . crazy. Only three hours, and that includes any resets and motion shift. No erasing, no killing, and no hurting."

"It's already where it needs to be on it's little menu," Flowey said to Sans. "See? Temporary. You can't turn over the whole thing to me unfortunately." He cringed. "Just press the button. Just say yes. Just give me the power for three hours. I can't do anything without the power."

"Papyrus, no, I don't want to kill Papyyyyruuuussss! Moooooove!"

Sans instinctively hit the button. For good or bad, it was done. "Three hours."

"Yes! Good. Now, hee hee hee hee hee hee." Flowey rubbed his stems together as he cleared his throat and uttered the phrase Frisky once did. "Um . . . I don't really know what to say, except that . . . I-I'm sorry about crashing everything you've ever believed in." He giggled evilly. "Then again, you above everyone else should probably know the _truth_. He he hee hee!" He looked toward Frisky. "Good night, Frisks, I'm wiping your memory back to the event. But, Sans? Not you. Don't worry though, a certain dinosaur is going to get to remember too! So say hello and goooood mornniiiiiing!"

* * *

"What?" Frisky looked around herself next to the little sign. One minutes, Frisk was in her arms, and the next minute, he was gone? "Frisk?!" She left the little teleporting area and looked around desperately. Where was he? Who took him? She watched as several teleportation lights were surrounding her. "No way." Was she getting arrested?

The first to land in front of her was Conner.

"Frisky has been located, Sir. She is in the same place as last time," Conner said into his MP. "We will bag and secure her promptly."

"Bag me?" Frisky looked at his uniform. The P for PACIFIST they wore was now an N. She tried to back away from all the soldiers coming at her, but that wasn't a great place to be. There was nowhere to get away in that vicinity. "What's going on? Conner?"

"Sorry, Frisky, our division changed," Conner admitted. "Someone else is in charge, and we have to follow the big shots. You know how it is. Besides, this is still somewhat pacifism. We aren't hurting Monsters, are we? We aren't going to hurt you, and we are not going to hurt your little conduit. We are just peacefully trying to collect what is ours."

"I am not yours and neither is my son. Why do you want him so much?"

"Doesn't matter, just come peacefully, and will somebody stop this weird flower thing already! Hold her down!"

"Can't Sir, this flower is really filled with DETERMINATION, it won't, let, up!"

Frisky watched as Flowey was trying to pull her up from the soldiers trying to nab her. "Huh?!"

"Hi again!" Flowey chuckled. "Need a little hand? Stem. Whatever. You have to survive this next part on your own, 'cause I have somewhere else to go." He flung her away onto one of the thin walls. "A nice jog will do you some good!"

* * *

"Looookyyyy what the stoooork brooought!" Flowey laughed as he showed up behind Sans post. Sans stood up immediately. "Long time no see? Maybe?" He tossed Chance into Alphys arms. "Good catch!"

"Chance?" Sans looked around. Flowey took them into motion shift? _He said Frisk_ _y_ _and_ _Chance_ _wouldn't remember but_ _Alphys_ _and_ _I would, why?_

"NEUTRAL, formerly PACIFIST, soldiers are chasing Frisky down. Funny, huh? Shouldn't be the type." Flowey giggled. "Type, that's funny, isn't it? Oh, come on. Why the sour and _confused_ little skeleton face? That's what I get for bringing him back to you? He's not really meaningful to you . . . yet. But, here you go. Here's my something special I promised _last time_." Flowey's face turned dark as he threw something in the snow and cackled before he left.

The MP that Flowey gained control back as Guardian with. Sans picked it up.

* * *

A wall, a mere wall. Still, it kept the soldiers from overtaking her. _Fr_ _isk._ _Where_ _are you_ _? What's going on?_ She was running alongside the area where she always picked up umbrellas. It would be raining ahead, which meant the walls would run out. Soldiers were following from below on all sides, knowing that she'd eventually run out of room. _Home._ _We were just supposed to go home._

More soldiers were getting on the wall, figuring out how to stand on each other's shoulders. She was running out of room. _Come on,_ _Frisk_ _y_ _, figure it out._ At that time, she needed to be FRISK, but it was impossible without her son. As much DETERMINATION as she kept, she wouldn't make it. Still, even if she had to jump off the wall and run through the water and mud, she'd never just surrender.

Then, she saw blue light surrounding her while she was running. Her legs moved around, trying to touch the ground. Instinctively, she tried to escape. She knew this light! But, then, it wasn't hurting her, just lifting her up out of danger.

Below her, she watched her team start to scatter as blue light came at them. It wasn't gentle. At all.

 _Sans?_ _But, he never sticks around, how would he know we were in trouble?_ On those horrible playthroughs where she wasn't in control, he didn't even stay in place to die. He just moved away. When they reached the surface, he was just gone after a couple words.

She felt herself getting pulled toward him. When she reached the ground, he moved in front of her.

"Don't. Move."

Huh? Frisky watched as energy waves started heading their way, but Sans blocked every single one. When it came to fighting, he was always a hard opponent. "Sans, what's going on? My team flipped on me and Flowey took-"

He held his arm up. "Don't. Move."

The blue light was getting heavy on her again. Why? Then, as a wave of energy tried to smack them, she felt herself moving just as fast out of the way as Sans moved.

"Sir, i-it's the Guardian itself! W-what'd we do?! Aahhh!"

Frisky watched as several teleportation lights were set off at once. Ouch. That would probably cause some malformations. "Did Alphys do that?" But before she got an answer . . .

. . . she found herself teleported into a house. A house she didn't recognize. Looking out the window, it was clearly in Snowdin though.

"Did I get it in time?" Alphys asked. She was holding some kind of MP that wasn't Frisky's. "Good. Okay, everything's fine."

Sans didn't say anything, just went into the next room over where a strange mother with tiny arms came out of.

"Okay." She cleaned her hands off with a towel, like she just finished doing dishes. "This procedure is a bit expensive, and I am going to need GOLD up front."

"Procedure?" Frisky couldn't keep the worry out of her voice. "What happened?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine. Once I get that payment?" She looked toward Alphys.

"Yeah, we are getting there." Alphys looked toward Frisky. "Someone's coming, and I don't want you to be afraid. She understands, um, the gist? At least? She won't hurt you, I promise." Alphys looked out the window. "She'll be here soon. A-and don't worry about those soldiers. We've got a temporary shield keeping them out of here. Oh, and Chance is fine. You can see him in just a bit." Alphys sighed as she stared out the window. "Um, okay, I know this doesn't make much sense. Your son is in a little trouble, and we are going to fix him up."

"In trouble? Is it why the soldiers are after him?"

"Sort of. Let's go with that?" Alphys nervously laughed. "Just as soon as she gets here. Right . . . now." Alphys opened the door of the home. "Undyne, thank you for coming as quick as you could."

Hm? Frisky watched as Undyne came into the house.

"I promise, not very long. Sans and I have to do something. Just keep a quick eye on her. Remember, don't kill her, just keep an eye on her?" Alphys said again before she headed to the back room.

Undyne stared at Frisky. Frisky just waved slightly. "Don't get nervous, I promised Alphys I wouldn't kill you."

A good promise. Hopefully she kept it. "Do you . . ."

"No, I don't know what's going on, I just know that Alphys gets real hysterical when she _really_ needs help with something. When your friends with a mad scientist, it kind of comes with the territory. Just, be good." Undyne pointed her spear at her. "I am still allowed to injure you if I have too."

Frisky decided now was a good time to just sit on the couch and stay perfectly still.

The Monster from before with tiny arms came back into the room. "Okay. Um, you are the mommy, right?" She gestured toward Frisky. "Stand against that far wall over there, okay? Just stay there, and if you feel a little squeeze on your soul, it's natural. Don't worry about it." She headed to the next room.

Frisky moved to the corner of the wall the woman indicated, but turned her head to look at Undyne.

"Don't even bother asking," Undyne stated. "Seriously, I don't know. Just do what she says."

* * *

Alphys stopped a moment to see Chance in the healer's room, waved hesitantly, and then continued on past that room to where Sans remained. "Hey. No waiting period. Got the GOLD paid up for you. Um, glad you got her in time. Not a very good place to do a motion shift, soldiers going after Frisky again. I guess, Flowey did that on purpose though. Um." He still hadn't said anything. "Are you sure about this? If they investigate this later-"

"He needs healed," Sans finally spoke. "Go wait with Frisky."

Alphys nodded and went back to Frisky and Undyne. "Everything's ready soon. Just stay against the wall."

Frisky moved over toward the wall, but was still confused. She would eventually get the answer, she had to remember that. She felt a small squeeze inside her stomach, and that squeeze increased. She tightened her hands up against the wall, watching her soul in front of her, bright and big. It was like finding herself in an encounter, but there was no enemy.

* * *

Sans listened closely through the door.

 **"Okay,** **Chance** **. I am just helping out your soul. It's sick in a unique way, and we are going to make it better, okay?"**

 **"Okay, I guess?"**

 **"Alright, I am going to put my hands right by your chest. You'll feel a little squeeze."**

Sans felt the squeeze on his soul. He couldn't ignore the radiant blue in his room, along with his grey soul in front of him.

 **"Ah, that feels weird!"**

 **"I know, no worries** **.** **Your parents are on the other side, helping you out with their souls."**

 **"Huh?"**

 **"** **It's a subconscious calling, only the souls that helped create** **you** **can do that** **. It's a lovely connection."**

 **"Mom's soul is helping me?"**

 **"Yep.** **Goodness is helping to stabilize your sick soul. There we go. Well, that's a . . . a unique soul color.** **Oh, colors.** **It's pretty."**

 **"What is it?** **Black still?"**

 **"It's black, with a beautiful burst of blue all around. Do you feel better?"**

 **"I guess.** **Yeah, I'm fine."**

 **"Good! Here's some Monster candy for you for being such a good little Monster."**

* * *

"So, I am going to go talk to the healer," Alphys said to Frisky, "but I'll get Chance back out for you. A-and don't worry about anyone coming after you two, completely blocked now. Completely, a hundred percent, absolutely blocked. Sent them up really, really fast. They might be a little wrongly proportionate, but they maybe sort of deserved it. So, uh, be right back." She quickly scooted out of the room back to Chance's area. "Uh?" Alphys closed the door behind her, but Frisky could still hear the conversation. "Just . . . two seconds? Maybe? Uh. Yummy Monster candy, huh? Oh. Oh, I hope that's that. This way, Chance."

 _Alphys_ _. Why are you starting to call him that name too?_ Neither of them understood that she would suffer for the repercussions. Then again, right now wasn't the time to think about such a small detail. Her ship betrayed her. Frisk was in some kind of trouble that required a healer. _Please be okay._

She saw him move from his room toward her. "Hi, momma."

"Frisk. You okay?"

He shrugged. "Besides being flung around by a flower? Guess I'm okay," he chuckled as he hugged his mom. "What was that for? What happened?"

"I really have no clue, but I'm glad you are okay." She picked him back up. "I don't know the details, but I think I owe Flowey some thanks."

* * *

"Okay, he's alright," Alphys said as she came in on the other side of the healer's room. Sans was still against the side of the wall. "The healer said it's um, black, not grey, and it's got really, really strong edges of blue? It can't be changed, that's . . . that's what he is. But, he's, um, better. He . . . healed." She knew what that meant, and she knew he already knew too. The room probably lit up with his own soul reacting. "Uh . . . when I went into see him, he was kind of doing that blue thing again, but just with his arm. Then it cleared up."

Sans didn't say anything. He moved away from the wall slowly and looked outside. There was a small, tiny spot, devoid of snow. Only a hole. "I'll be back." Finding a way to a back door, Sans moved over to the spot in the snow with the moved soil.

He waited.

Eventually Flowey poked his head out. "Don't get me wrong, I don't _care_ about you or anything." Puffs of cold air came from his mouth. "But now you _know_ _,_ " he hissed. "You know what needs to happen." Then, he shot back into the ground.


	17. Thin Mercy

Sans strutted his way through the alert and red lights filling the room of wherever he teleported to. He only stopped in the middle of the room when he saw a figure half dead on the ground. Her chest was heaving and muttering heavily about Toriel. _Another part of FRISK._ He didn't even get a chance to talk to that one.

The figure seemed to focus on him and smiled slightly before finally giving out on life. He bent down and closed her eyes before taking off again. Another innocent soul abused.

That's all they knew. Abuse.

"Holy crap, Sans is on board?!"

"Alert, alert!"

"Any and all fighters, to the front!"

"Screw that, that's suicide, we've all seen him fight!"

Everyone parted like the seas as he passed. He had only one destination in mind. The control room. When he reached it, he tore the door off with his magic.

When he scooted his hands to the sides, two people split away from the room, running as fast as they could.

Sans moved to the main computer when he heard something buzz by his skull. He turned to see who had those kinds of guts. Probably someone with DETERMINATION. But they better have enough to take him out because he wasn't stopping _._ "Not in the mood today, folks. Knowing the way this place works, I've bet you've all analyzed every fight I ever fought with FRISK." He juggled a bone in his hand. "But without practice, you are all **boned**."

Nobody came out. Sans knew they would be preparing conduits soon, so he needed to hurry. He moved through the computer finding all the goodies that he needed power for from below. He pulled out his MP.

"Alphys. Ready?"

"You are clear. Ready to take it."

"Good. First up, let there be light. I wonder how Monsters will react when they see twenty ships right above them in a sky they never knew about. Let's find out."

 _Human._ _Every human._ _Every freaking human._ _They t_ _hink_ _it's_ _okay to put someone in resets just to make them shoot? Make them watch their brother die, their friends die, and be the last one left to fight multiple times?_ _Over and over_ _with_ _no escape_ _?_ He shielded the ship with his own magic as he heard and felt some of the more powerful Monsters below noticing the ships. He worked on his last steps to make sure Underground minds were secured before he got into the heavy stuff. It wouldn't do any good to free themselves, but then be insane.

Sans scooted to the side again, sensing another attack. "Oh, you humans don't like that, do you? Not so easy to fight without a save or a reset, is it?" He moved back to the computer. "Let's see, Tori. Froggits. Whimsys. Royal Guards. Yeah, Doggo, even you." He smacked more buttons to send the Monsters back to where they should be. From all the Royal Guards, to the smallest of Ruin creatures. While he did that, he was also sending most of the ship's power straight to the Underground itself.

"Got it! Wow, really got it! The barrier is at full power, Sans. Ready for the next step."

Sans wasn't in a very giving mood. He really wasn't. He really, really wasn't, but he did know there were other kids there like Chance too, probably getting mobilized to fight soon. He watched the screens to their cells as he programmed the doors to open. He felt another attack from behind. "Sorry, but do you really think I wouldn't dodge that? Aren't you _expecting_ me to say that?"

 **SELF DESTRUCTION IN FIVE MINUTES.**

He heard more screams and yells. Yikes, that was less time than he thought. "Sounds like your bosses don't like what I'm doing. Take out the employees too? Time for a new job. Maybe something that doesn't involve manipulating Monsters anymore?"

Mercy was thin. His mercy was so thin. Luckily the blueprint to each ship was exactly the same, it made the job easier. He hit the very clearly labeled microphone. "Hey, all you kids out there on all the ships. Hi, I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton. If you're tired of people taking over your bodies, you better head two doors down. I opened the doors for you all. Stand on those little round things and then you'll be in a lab where a nice dinosaur Monster will greet you soon. Maybe there will even be candy." After that, he sent the recording into a translation unit for any of those kids that didn't speak Monster.

Now. He had everyone's records pulled up and studied already. Everyone was labeled N now, including Frisky, but there were at least 20 on each ship that were only P a few days ago. Pacifist.

He didn't want to. He could feel how much rage his body had in it. He literally had blue flames around him right now. But he did it.

He showed mercy to the Pacifists, but he didn't have time to figure out where everyone could go. It was a luxury a five minute countdown couldn't provide. Considering what he knew, they were lucky he even offered that.

They were lucky he didn't just crash the ships and let them all burn. **_Each and every one_**.

"Okay. Are you sure about the last thing? Undyne might cut you a break? Maybe?"

"Close off the transparency to our barrier," Sans warned her. "I promise. This is it, the last time. But . . ."

"I-I know. Hm. Okay. Transparency closing."

 _Last_ _thing_ _._ He pulled the Underground into motion shift, one final time. He would need time to prepare for what needed to be done. After motion shift, he destroyed the dimensional barrier surrounding that enabled the 'gaming of souls' in the Underground. There was already a new barrier enabled beneath it.

Theirs. A stronger one that allowed Monsters to pass in and out as they wanted, but trapped people in or out. It just needed the humans' barrier out of the way to reach full potential. It would even be transparent so every Monster could see the skies they were all denied.

Soon. When he was ready.

He watched as another ship went down. He could see the new barrier working well as the ships just disintegrated as soon as they touched it.

Even when the humans did get the will to come back and fight, their resets were gone. No more cheating. No more saving. But, before he headed down he had one more message. One message he sent to every ship and every computer connection involved with the ships.

FRISK IS MINE

As it blared on the screen on and off, he headed past the control panel and back to where he had come before. He looked one more time at the fallen part of FRISK he'd never get to know personally before stepping over her and moving on his way back.

The Underground was no longer a place to be trapped for Monsters.

The Underground was now a place of _safety_ for Monsters, while this . . . the eventual consequences of what the humans tried to do . . . worked itself out.

* * *

Sans watched Alphys walking toward him and Frisky. "Hang on a second, Frisky." He moved over to meet Alphys, knowing she wouldn't go anywhere and Undyne shouldn't be bothering her that day.

"Well, I-I'm . . . here?"

"Yeah I know. I want to make sure you remember too," Sans interrupted her. "No time to go through it all, but you've got six humans in your lab right now. Real kiddos."

"W-what?" Alphys took a step backward. "Why?"

"Little conduit kids," Sans added. "They are better off down here than up there. You always wanted some, right?"

"Well . . . Um, uh. Well, n-not six at least." Alphys blushed. "That's a lot of kids to handle."

"Oh." Great. Human kids weren't going to be the easiest thing to find a family for. "How about you spend time with the humans and decide the few you want?"

"I-I could handle one, maybe two," Alphys fidgeted. "This wasn't what I expected." She sighed and looked above.

"A couple days. I just need a couple. A few, maybe. Sorry. Don't worry." He chuckled oddly. "I'm having a day straight out of _hell_ too. You better get back there."

"Okay. Um. Good luck?" Alphys said before she started to walk back away.

Sans just waved at her and turned. He looked toward Frisky like nothing in the world could ever be wrong. Like his life didn't just shatter before him. Like he wasn't responsible for who knew how many deaths to stop it all, once and for all.

She just gave him a little smile back, holding the MERCY sign in her hands that he just gave her.

Right now, he needed that sign from her. "Welp, Frisky." He tried to keep his bones loose as he leaned against his booth. "Alphys said there were problems and it wasn't as safe as she thought." He grabbed the ball and shackle and put it back on her foot. "Alphys only got Undyne out for a little while too, so we better get this back on you."

"Oh." He could hear the sadness in her voice as she sighed. "Yeah. Human technology is pretty advanced. It's fine." She tried to stay brightened up. "Maybe one day. I know Undyne will see the truth one day too."

"Yeah. So, I better get back to watching Chance, and I'll get you back before Papyrus throws a fit." Her whole day would begin anew with Papyrus instead of expecting to be chased by humans. Couldn't do that anyhow.

Most of them were probably dead. _I couldn't risk it. I did what I could. There were too many on board, I had limited time. I had to do it, I had to stop it_ _!_ _They_ _were responsible for_ _every one_ _._ _Every time._ _They were all responsible._ He just tried to look happy. "Let's get you home real quick."

"Okay." Frisky looked toward Chance and Monster Kid still playing in the snow. "At least there's a bright side to staying longer." She glanced back toward Sans. "Thanks for letting him play with someone. I didn't expect to see that this morning."

"Yeah, I imagine he doesn't have many real friends his age. They make an okay pair." Sans grabbed her ball and took a shortcut back home. "You don't have long, Papyrus starts his day in twenty minutes." While he talked, he tried to cover up his yawn.

Sans needed sleep. Lots of sleep. He was overdue on sleep, but he couldn't just leave Chance playing with Monster Kid and nobody watching him. He tried to half-sleep. It was a reflexive sleep that instantly let him wake up to deal with an issue if it arose. It wasn't the best sleep, but at least if there was any strange sound, he could get up and protect Chance.

He couldn't let anything happen to him. He watched him decorate the snowman with more glee than anyone he'd ever seen. He'd never made a simple snowman before. _I wonder when I first made one. I wonder which one I made it with._ He pulled out the MP. It wouldn't work much anymore, all the information above being totaled, but he did save a few things.

For one, his family. Monsters who no longer existed, their presence didn't even linger in the underbelly in the Underground. Even when he saw the pictures, there was nothing he felt for a single one. He wanted to feel something for them. The only one of those pictures in his family that did survive in some form, wasn't whole. He was stretched against time, and only in strange places could information be found about him.

Sans remembered him though. Strange hall, and a door he rarely had seen. None of those were supposed to be there. He walked inside and saw him one time. A skeleton with a split face. Other forgotten creatures spoke of him. The strange Monster that boated Monsters up and down the Underground spoke of him as the one who spoke in hands.

Gaster. Brilliant. Probably the one that created the machine Sans used, but even having more clues about him, he still couldn't feel anything for even him. He didn't know who he had been in the family either. Who was who. These skeletons though. These few pictures were the only thing left of them.

Messed up in a reboot. Maybe going through the hell of resets with their own conduit problem and thinking a reboot would be the cure. He put the device back down. The women could have been a sister, a cousin, or a mom. The guys could have been other brothers. A dad. Anything.

And they were gone. Gone from his mind and existence forever. Thanks to those _humans_.

"I have to be getting home," Monster Kid said. "Do you want to play again tomorrow?"

"I hope so," Chance answered. "Bye, MK!" He waved as Monster Kid dashed off. Sans watched him pat the snowman better. "As close to perfectly spherical as possible. That's how to build a snowman."

"Heh. Sure." As he heard his phone ringing and answered it, the familiar voice of his brother echoed in the phone, making his heart feel so much lighter. "Hey, Papyrus. Good morning."

"Sans! Do you have the little human today?"

"Right again. There's **_snow_** way I'd forget him," Sans joked.

"Alright. Well, I shall take care of the other human then before I am off to work. I suppose it's time to see what Undyne did to her."

Ah, the cutting. That's right. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. Think positive, bro."

"Yes, well, I hope so. She sure did grab at her back yesterday."

"Probably just had a back ache," Sans lied. He was good at lying by now. He hated how good he was at lying. "See ya later, Papyrus." He hit end on the phone and laid it to the side. Just Papyrus' mere voice could stir more in him than any of the lost souls in the pictures. While he laid against his cheekbone though, he felt the funny sensation of skin touching his bone. He looked down and saw Chance holding his other bony hand.

"Sans, what's wrong?" Chance asked gently. "You don't seem right."

Sans covered his face. He just had to touch him with his hand. He just had to even still exist. "Fine. Go play."

"No, you're lying," Chance answered him. "I can tell, it's written all over your face."

"Not right now. Not yet," Sans felt like grinding his teeth as he moved his hand from him. "Go play." Chance watched him a few seconds longer before he went to sit in the snow again in Sans' coat. No one in the pictures stirred anything in Sans. Not one single Monster or skeleton in those forgotten pictures could touch his heart personally in any way.

Not like Papyrus could, and not like . . .

Chance laughed as he tossed snow up into the air, letting it fall on his head. "Raining snow. Ha ha!"


	18. You Must Mean Soda

**Author's Note: Had to edit Friskeye, and even the chapter name, to avoid breaking rules. Luckily, she is not a real big character obviously. More of an example of what Chara's power can do.**

* * *

 **Later that night . . .**

"Uhhh? Sans? Hello?" Papyrus yawned from his room. "Yes, Brother? Is it my shift already?"

"We need to talk," Sans said. "Let's go for a walk."

"What about the prisoners?"

"A walk with me, Papyrus."

Ooh, his tone was serious. Sans was mostly laid back, whether he was feeling happy, sad, or sad pretending to be happy. "Oh. Okay, brother. I shall come for a walk with you. Nyeh he he?"

As they walked, Papyrus stared at his brother. "Sans? What's wrong? You've been very strange since you came home with the human boy. You haven't even said one annoying pun to me. It's like you've been avoiding me."

Sans dug the strange device of the human's out of his pocket. It was the one that seemed to win her the battle with the evil human. But, Undyne was supposed to have had that? It was also a different shade. The other one was more of a dusty black and the one Sans had was all red. So, it was a different device.

Sans pushed some buttons on it while they walked through the snow. "I'm just playing a game. That's what this thing is for. It's called a Multiplayer and it likes to play games. You want it? You can take real souls and make their lives complete disasters in the name of science. Cool, huh?"

"Um, huh?" Papyrus didn't understand. What was his brother trying to tell him?

"Really in this game right here, Paps." Sans continued to press buttons on it. "I-I couldn't be more **_father_** along if I tried."

"Hm?" Papyrus heard his brother's usual slowdown for a pun, but didn't understand it. Father wasn't a pun to anything that he could understand. "You are confusing me, Sans."

Sans didn't pull his face away from the Multiplayer. "Nothing to get confused about. My life's a game, **_daddy's_** the reason for the season."

"Dat is? Uh, Sans?" That pun was now daddy. Off the word daddy. What? "You're kind of scaring me, brother."

Sans chuckled. "Funny. These puns are not helping me at all. Neither is this, it's just blank now. Just filled with others that don't exist. Pap. I'm a pop."

Hmmm. "What do you mean? You must mean soda. You can't turn into soda, but you just couldn't mean the other?" Father pun. Daddy pun. Pops. Pun? "Sans?"

Sans shrugged. "I guess I was the conveniently shaped guinea pig to some humans."

Papyrus felt like his head wanted to explode as his poor brother just came gushing out with so much. Picking the MP out of the snow, he showed him all the saved pictures of Skeletons. Yes, Skeletons, that they had been related to. He didn't know which was which. He told him about the Forgotten Creatures, and about the strange being named Gaster.

Then, he backtracked and explained their first human friend was actually a combination of different souls, with the boy being the body and his mother being the one he actually knew. He talked about what he called resets and about Judgment Hall. He explained about the intense magic power that he actually had was way more powerful than he let on.. He tried to go back into history and talk about Prince Asriel and Princess Chara, and then said Alphys was responsible for turning Asriel into a flower and . . . and . . .

And his head was swimming. Papyrus tried to keep up. He was trying to hold at least the basics because his brother apparently really needed him. That was very clear. "Okay. So our first human friend is actually the prisoners themselves." Okay, he seemed to have that one. "You were forced to fight them in a repeating timeline, just to _hit_ the little one?" He seemed to have that one too. Papyrus shook his head. "Sans, that sounds incredible! But, I haven't looked at the machine in some time. It's always just down there."

"Yeah. Always is. Don't know where it came from. Where we come from. We don't remember anyone but us. None of those. None of them."

"Yes, okay," Papyrus said sadly. "This is all very . . . tough, but. But, uh. The pop thing you said?"

"They tried with others. You know, the strange forgotten creatures. Strange Monsters that kind of appear randomly. Weird phrases. Always seem lonely?" Sans reminded him. "I think . . . our family was involved with it. I think, I was one too. I guess . . . I was the strongest winner."

Papyrus whined softly. "Sans? Really? The pop thing?"

"I don't know for sure. I mean, I don't! That stupid thing will only tell me so much. It's all just information. Information." Sans tried to toss the MP to the ground, but Papyrus stopped him. Feelings or not, there were Skeletons out there with no sign of their existence except a picture or two, and he still wanted that. Even if he didn't remember them, at least he'd know they were never alone. It wasn't just them two in the Underground.

Sans seemed to bend to his will as he continued. "These conduit humans like FRISK. According to that thing, they are only stoppable with another conduit. And I can believe that. I've seen firsthand what it does. But, the only way they could beat all the other conduits was to get magic and it's _too_ hard to combine it all. Look." Sans pulled up the players saved files. "I didn't save much. I didn't want to, but here."

Eww. Papyrus read the data. A conduit with magic literally exploded before birth, killing their own mothers. Only one survived after birth for about three days before blowing up itself. Papyrus covered his face. "That's horrible." He scrawled down the page and read about the one successful piece that they pinched the magic on. "What is pinched?"

Sans just looked toward the top of the cavern. "We have sky too. Boy, how did I forget that one for you?" He pointed up. "You'll see it soon." Sans just seemed to fade away as he stared upward. "I don't know, but I think I can guess. They made it unable to access it's own magic."

Sans took his bony fingers and made a pinching motion. "A conduit Monster human with no magic. It could survive."

"That . . . seems ridiculous." Papyrus didn't get what good that would do. "Why bother then?"

"Probably because they could 'light it up' later. Strike it like a match when it got older. More able to handle it." Sans rubbed his shoulder bone. "It couldn't just be anyone though, and it had to be a really strong blast to light it. Really strong, but not kill it, which is impossible for a human. So, that meant it had to be . . ."

"Sans?"

"The right pattern of magic. A paternal pattern so it would absorb and have less chance of . . . " Sans was slowing down again, but it was clear Sans couldn't go on much longer. His poor brother was breaking down. "The kid is mine, Papyrus," he blurted out as he started to tick off his fingers. "All the hate and death and genocide and the trip to the surface and the resets and the whole journey, it was all just nothing! The only goal was just to make me smack _him_ as hard as possible!" Sans stumbled back. "They just wanted him to get magic, so he'd be unstoppable. The humans . . . could take out the Monsters once and for all with . . . _my_ kid."

Papyrus just stared at his brother. Just. Just. He could not even say anything. It was . . . Sans had a son that he was never supposed to know about, that served no purpose except to kill off all Monsters. "Oh yes, Monsters of the surface now," he said weakly. That wasn't the right response? What was the right response?

What was someone supposed to say to an older brother about having a child that let other souls control him so that he could eventually commit genocide across all monsters everywhere?

This. Was. Big. This was big on two levels, and Papyrus understood that much. For one, if the humans got it, that was the end of everything. The monsters on the surface, and probably them too. Then there was the more personal level.

Sans was a father. Sans. His Sans. His lazy, annoying, pun-making, fast food eating, brother . . . was a father. That wasn't a good _thing_ in the Underground.

"I went up, Pap," Sans said, taking over again. "I found their power, and I took it _out_. Everything. No more resets, no more soul gaming, no more teleporting, nothing! Alphys and I even made a barrier to keep humans out for good," Sans admitted as he kicked his slippered foot against the snow. "Afterwards, I did this thing where I wiped everyone's memory, but my own and Alphys." He stroked his jaw bone. "I put souls back though, and I brought us back a few days. Everything's how it's supposed to be. But, there are humans here too."

"What? How many?"

"Six kids, and probably some others that snuck through. Ten. Fifty. I don't know."

Papyrus looked around, like maybe there was an answer somewhere outside that would help him deal with this situation. "The big human?"

"She doesn't know." Sans wiped the front of his skull. "Frisky thinks the whole thing was to expose Monsters to the truth. To 'reach the surface'. That the stupid imbalance really was an _accident_."

"Oh." Papyrus fidgeted with his thumby bones. "But . . . well, information is just information. It could be theoretical too, maybe?"

"I know." His brother gulped. "Um. In the other timeline. I don't even know if that's the word anymore. Before I brought us back to this point." Sans seemed to be losing it a bit again. "The kid was dying. I couldn't help him, I just, kept him close and it eased the pain. I meant that alone wasn't enough but . . ." Sans took a couple step backwards. "I tested it, Papyrus. I did the only real test that counted. The only one that couldn't be faked between Monsters, you know?"

Papyrus shook his head. His mind was in a tizzy, he just couldn't think of such little details. Test for Monsters?

"I had to know, and if it was, then he needed healed anyway. So, I took him to a healer."

Ooh. "Did your soul?"

"Yep."

"Ooh." There was no faking that. Okay, so, it was true. Sans was a dad. "You . . . um, you said you got rid of the barrier? Then why can't we see the sky, Sans?" That wasn't the right thing to ask either, but Papyrus was just trying to sort it out.

"I can't reveal it yet, but soon. Okay? We'll all see the stars soon. Together."

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"You have not been lazy at all these past few days," Papyrus admitted. Sans seemed to have tried to chuckle at that. "Um, okay, are you positive that there was just him?" Papyrus whined. "As hard as that is. Maybe there's been more?" That wasn't right either, but it was a good question.

"Naw, I looked hard at it," Sans said confidently. "No one else." He shoved his hands in his coat. "That's why they tried so hard for so long. 892 goes. 892 . . ."

"Well. Well!" Papyrus shook his hand to the ceiling. Oh, he didn't know what he was supposed to say, and he just couldn't take it anymore! "Surface dwellers! They shall not do anything else, nothing else! I, The Great Papyrus, will never let them! Because!" His bravado started to fade. "Because that was a horrible thing to do! Sans? I'm. Uuhhh . . . Saaaaans!" He bent down and pulled his brother into a desperate hug. "What a horrible, horrible, horrible thing!"

"Hey, you know, it's okay." Sans patted his brother's arm. "Calm down. I'm fine, everyone's fine. We'll make do." When Papyrus finally let go of him, Sans held his bony finger in front of his mouth. "Not a word, okay? I don't want anyone else knowing yet. We're cool. Okay?"

Papyrus tried to cheer up. "This is okay. Alright! Um, at least there is someone still existing. That's great news, you are right! I'm an Uncle now. That's exciting news." He tapped his chinbone. "So? What's next?"

Sans shoved his foot in the snow, digging a hole with his foot. "I think if we're careful about it, I think . . . a committing. But, if anybody finds out the truth." He shrugged. "Well, you know the only option from there."

"Ooh, yes, having a family without marriage is illegal. So, then I wouldn't just have a nephew. I'd have a sister. And, because Skeleton Monsters are such a low Monster count. As in _two_ in the entire Underground, a uh . . . another niece or nephew within a certain amount of . . . Oohh . . . Nyeh he he, that's . . . hmm." Papyrus joined his brother in one big sigh. "I'll be absolutely careful, Sans. You're right. But, what about the other humans, will they know the truth too? Would they be after your, um, boy?"

"The Underground's secure, and those other ships were taken out. But, considering what they put into getting Chance ready, I'm sure they'll try to come up with something. You know humans."

"Well. I don't know humans, but, commit sounds good. Do humans have a committing process?" Papyrus asked.

"I don't think so. And, I don't think Frisky's going to be thrilled about it."

"Well, I'm sure of that too. But, what option is there? It's dangerous up there, and now they are going to want my nephew! Funny word. Nephew." Papyrus sounded it out. "Neeepheeeewwww. Nephew."

"Yeah, but you don't know human determination like I do," Sans added. "She's going to try and convince me there's some other ally ship or a Balancer ship that she can trust. I mean . . ." Sans shrugged. "I really doubt she wants to spend her entire life trapped Underground."

"Uh, yes. It's . . . but she'll get to see the sky? We all get to see the sky soon! So it won't be the same."

"Not for human eyes," Sans said. "The barrier we made is a flip of the first one holding us. The illusion will be for human eyes instead of Monster eyes. She'll literally feel trapped. Stuck in Snowdin. Forever. With us."

"Oh. I see. So, a _hostile_ committing?" Papyrus moaned. "We really will have prisoners forever, won't we?"

"No, I mean. I'm pretty sure Chance won't need secured. He didn't before." Still. Geez. "I can't stand to talk about this much more, Papyrus."

"It's. It's okay, Sans." Papyrus patted his shoulder. "It will be okay. You will be a good dad. You've uh . . . you've got the **_back-bone_** for it!" He tried to make a joke, tried to pull Sans into a better mood. Into feeling some relief that he didn't have to hold it all alone.

"I don't even have the spine for it," Sans answered back. "I mean, I like kids. I would make a dang good Uncle, I think. But. But there's no way I'm going to be a good dad."

"You're wrong! You will be an excellent dad, I'm sure of it." Papyrus patted his shoulder harder.

"Are you kidding?" Sans gestured to himself. "No one looks at me and says 'hey, that guy would make good dad material'. No way." He waggled his coat. "I'm just the ridiculously short and lazy funny guy who barely manages to keep a job." He stumbled back some. "It should have been you, Pap. You would have made a much better father."

"Don't say that! I know you, Sans. You are an excellent brother, and you can be a good father!" Papyrus bent down and gave him another hug. "You'll see. We'll be fine." He stood up proudly. "You'll raise a fine Skeleton boy, and I will be the proud Uncle. I promise."

"Yeah. Because it'll be a barrel of laughs while Frisky is chained on shackles." Sans shook his head. Cruel. Too cruel. The Underground had different rules than humanity. They had their own laws, and Sans wasn't above them, nor was anyone else. The law was the law.

"Maybe she'd warm up to the idea of never seeing the sky again and being trapped in the same . . . town forever . . . with umm . . ." Papyrus couldn't finish easily. "She might get along with us one day?"

"Sure, because that's the only thing she'll be upset about."

"Oh, yes. The human ship thing. Your activity probably attracted those surface monsters and . . . if they find out the truth about Chance . . . they could be wiping out humanity." Papyrus stopped talking again. "Well, the only other option was to let them take them, Brother! You should _not_ feel bad. You just freed the Underground, you didn't actually do any of the . . . you know, the murdering part."

Sans shoved his hands in his pockets quickly. "We don't have too long. We've got to get things ready to pass a committing. Just make sure no one knows the truth," Sans warned him. "If anyone spills the truth, then I really don't get a choice. And as bad as Frisky's going to hate this . . . it's nothing compared to if anyone finds out."

"Yes, and that would be very bad," Papyrus agreed. "But, we can't keep it a secret from everyone. Someone will have to know, otherwise they'll be asking why."

"Yeah, I know." Sans looked at his fingers. "There are a couple who'll know, including . . ." Undyne. There was no dodging that one. "One day at a time though. They are still prisoners, and we aren't ready for it yet." He looked toward Papyrus, almost desperately. "I mean, I know I didn't ask, but-"

"Of couse, you don't have to!" Papyrus insisted. "You can't carry everything alone! I will commit to them too. Um. Frisky, and Chance." Sans finally had a semi-smile kind of look.

"Thanks for not just calling them human."

"No, no, no, from this day forward. Frisky and Chance! I promise. We will all be the best roommates ever." Papyrus tried to hide his slight whine. "But, you know? You are going to tell them, right?"

"Yeah. Day of. Frisky. It's only right."

"Right! Good. Okay. Okay! I will start looking into the preparations."

"Great, but we can't do _anything_ around Frisky. Even the day we get this done, she can't know. She'd bolt. She's going to bolt," Sans warned him, remembering all the times he tried to get FRISK to do something. Whether it was staying away from the surface or to stop killing dang Monsters. No matter what it wanted. It always won. Extra careful. Extra careful. "And whatever you do."

"I know, Sans, I promise! No one will know that you are the father. I shall breathe not one word."

Then, Sans heard a familiar little laughter from the ground as Flowey popped out. He was never defined in the program so his mind was never wiped.

"It was worth the cold to hear it!" Flowey laughed at Sans. "I knew you'd _do it_." His face turned evil as he cackled. "I knew that ** _anger_** would be so great inside of you that you'd get rid of them once and for all." Then his face turned pleasant again. "Say howdy to the new fam for me."

Sans was far from in the mood to deal with him, but he couldn't just walk back inside and ignore it. Not after what it did. "What do you want?"

"How about a thank you for letting you know? How about a thank you for not letting you lose the only other family you have that's still existing besides Papyrus?" Flowey tilted his head. "I want to hear it. I want to hear a thank you."

"Thank you."

"For what?" Flowey tilted his head in the other direction.

"For not letting me lose him, Asriel."

Flowey wiggled his head from the left to the right and back again. "Toriel's got a ton of mismatched shoes and striped T-shirts. More than you think. The humans still have some protection, but it will be gone soon, so better get prepared." He sunk back into the ground, but then popped back up, letting his petals hang upside down. "By the way, for being sooooo smart . . . you're still soooo stupid. You only _think_ you know everything." This time, he sunk back into the ground and stayed gone.

"That flower was really Prince Asriel?" Papyrus asked again. "It was so much information you said. So confusing. It used to give me advice." He scratched his skull. "What was that last part?" He approached the hole. "Hey, what did you mean by the last part?"

"Don't trust him," Sans warned him. "He twists the truth, and he loves to hide things. When he does tell the truth, he draws it out, so just let me deal with it if you ever see it. If he has something else, I'll figure it out," he yawned. Toriel though. Maybe she could help watch the new little conduit humans too? She liked kids a lot. He would try and get some more rest, but he'd have to get up earlier than work to reach her. He was going to have to confide in her too.

Because . . . he was going to need those dead kids' clothes.

* * *

 _Idiot. Hello, what an idiot._ Flowey thought he was smarter than that. Sans used to be smarter than that. Maybe he hadn't used his brain in so long some of those smarts had faded away? Didn't he notice? Didn't he figure it out yet?

 _Oh well. It's not like I care. I don't care. I'm a flower, I have no feelings. Nothing but DETERMINATION. I win. I won! So . . . why am I still hanging around, teasing him? I should go experience something new. Make something new happen._

Still. How could the smiley trashbag really think that humans were actually that cunning? They weren't. Most of the technology was just the Balancers. Humans ran things for the Balancers.

Humans were responsible for trying to turn San's son into a weapon. That was very, very true. For that, they were going to be very, very sorry.

But honestly? To think that humans had those kinds of brains was very, very wrong. _Oh, well. He'll figure it out later. Maybe. But, I don't care. I'm a flower. I._ _D_ _on't. Care._

* * *

"It starts with an Earthquake."

"Don't," Friskay growled as she looked over the cliff from the Dog Marriage area. No. No. She could hear the old, familiar lyrics, circle around her head. Only, they weren't in her head. They were from HONESTY, AKA Friskeye, the Frisk they just saved.

If they could have ran into any other part of FRISK. "HONESTY, I swear, don't do it." Honestly started to move into the last parts of verse before the chorus

"Oh gaw, no!" Friskay covered her ears as Farrisk and Friskarino both just sunk their heads. HONESTY. She used to have a little harder of a mind, but, Chara's influence upon the body sometimes hit the lesser used pieces more. And Friskeye honestly didn't do as much, so she got hit the hardest. What used to be a smart, intelligent, partly contributing part of the old FRISK was now? Well . . . she mostly sang in verse, and most of her words were done with rhythmn.

Friskeye started to sing as she hopped onto the top of the dog stations, belting out a chorus to an old Apocalypse song.

"HONESTY!" Friskay shouted, but it didn't do much.

Friskeye chuckled loudly. "It's the HONEST truth you guys! I was there!" She giggled as she ran around the dog's stations. "He came in all like fire burning blue and whooooah! And then, he said really cool things and then before you know it . . . it's the end of the . . .!" Honesty sang. "And you know it's got to be the honest truuuuuuth."

"Why. Why. Why." Friskay covered her head but looked down at Snowdin. "I thought losing Frisky to the same guy who pretty much made it so that all humanity is going to get wiped out was bad enough! But, oh no! We just had to find HONESTY to top it off!"

"Friskay." Farrisk came over to her. "Calm down. I know. She's unbalanced, but we can't just ignore Friskeye. She can't take care of herself no more. It's a risk when were all in a conduit for so long. It just gets . . ." He looked back toward HONESTY, still singing an old ancient apocalypse song. "At least we all broke apart."

"Yeah, that's great. We could live the rest of our lives in the Underground until we die, because Sans made it that way." Friskay glared at Farrisk. "And you and Friskarino just pretended it would never happen."

"I never said that it wouldn't. I said I didn't know what he was going to do. That's why we left to get help." Farrisk held the MP up. "Okay. We're not really trapped. We made actual teleportation spots to cause less distraction, remember? It was in _during_ the take-down. Right before, so it's still there."

"She's just getting to you," Friskarino agreed. "HONESTY hasn't been herself in some time. We're still here. It won't be that bad."

"Yeah, and we still have our plan. We made contact before that outburst," Farrisk reminded her. "We can still turn this around."

"No," Friskarino still couldn't agree.

"Friskarino, don't even. Not with me right now!" Friskay stood up. "Think of all the people lost on the ships! You think he really saved them all? He probably saved the kids, and he might, might, have saved PACIFISTS. But everyone else? He didn't have time. You know it. I know it. Once those alarms go off, there is like five minutes! Even if he had time, there's a pretty fair chance he _wouldn't_ have saved them either."

"Don't yell at me," Friskarino answered back. "I don't know who he saved or what he did. That's besides the point. What you two are planning is still wrong."

"Wrong?" Farrisk groaned. "How is it really wrong?"

"Are you kidding me?" Friskarino looked away. "Humans took everything away from him. You've seen the reports. Damn. Just . . . let him have his kid. It's _his_."

"It's Frisky's," Friskay reminded him. "Okay, so I don't know scientific stuff, but it's just . . . biological!"

"And, we can't really even say that," Farrisk backed her up. "It's just information. Information can and has been bogus before. We won't know until we get Frisk to safety. Then the Balancers can confirm or deny this stuff."

"By then, the Balancers won't give him back."

"Look, we're lucky we even found our way to the peaceful ally ships of Balancers." Friskay sat back down. "Protected by treaties. They guarantee he'll be safe. We would not put him in any danger."

Friskarino still didn't answer back right away. "It's still Sans'."

"JUSTICE!" Friskay confronted Friskarino. "Life doesn't always get happy endings. We'll be lucky if we can even turn this around to save the human race because, his little hissy fit? Oh I guarantee it caused some big boys to take some vengeance."

"We can't think small. This is too big. If the wrong people get a hold of Frisk, he's going to be used to wipe out Balancers and Monsters alike." Farrisk stepped away toward the cliff. "And, Frisky doesn't deserve to be stuck in the Underground forever. Besides, you guys know what's going to be coming up next. We have to work fast."

"Umm . . ." Friskay looked toward Farrisk. "What do you mean what's next?"

"Monster relationship? Underground?" Farrisk hit his head. "Seriously, Friskay? Were you asleep during that class?"

"Ugh, it's been so long since I had the dang historic classes. Don't judge." Friskay groaned. "But what do you mean by what's coming up next?"

"Sans has to marry Frisky, and then they have to have another baby eventually."

"What?" Friskay looked between both of them. "Wait, what?"

"Monsters have a different rationality to things. They don't have the same . . . instincts as Balancers tend to follow," Farrisk said softly. "How often have you seen anything really bad down here? I mean, they do kind of get in fights, and sometimes a life is lost every now and then. Sometimes, it can even get really bad. But overall? No one cusses. No one vandalizes. No one even really steals. It's the human side of Balancers that make them so terrible, you know?"

"Uh huh. That didn't help at all, quit stalling. Why does Frisky have to marry that weirdo?"

"Because Monsters hold more respect for that kind of thing. When someone finds out about Frisk's magic, and if the mission really was supposed to trigger it . . . well, then, if Sans' doesn't marry her. Someone else will."

"Oh, damn." Friskay rolled her eyes. "Because Frisk is the unfunny skelly guy's, then Frisky is automatically his too? Or she gets thrown to another Monster?"

"Yeah, and he'd be ridiculed and untrusted. You really need to remember more."

"There was no need. I bring weapons and ammo to FRISK, others supply the book stuff." Still. "That sucks. That totally sucks. Like oh my gaw, that . . . sucks."

"Yeah, but when Monsters aren't plentiful. You know, like Froggits and stuff? Then, it becomes even stricter. King Asgore will have to decide how long before . . . oh, shoot, what are they called? Well, basically another Skeleton is born. Because there's only two down here in the Underground now."

"Ugh! That's barbaric!"

"There's limited Monsters down here. They don't know about Balancers, they think this is all there is, so they do what they do to keep their kind going. And it's not really more barbaric than what happens to _us_ , is it?" Farrisk challenged her. "Now, we all can tell Sans put this into motion shift one more time. He probably needs a couple days for something. So, that should give us ample time to figure out a strategy to rescue Frisky and Frisk before the marriage, and get them to the Balancers ship to end all this before things go any more sour."

"Agreed," Friskay nodded. "Gotta get her out of that situation."

"Yep." Farrisk looked back toward Friskarino. "Come on. We're going to need you on this too."

Friskarino just continued to look away while Friskeye found her way over toward them.

"Does it really matter? Because . . .!" She started to sing again.


	19. Sleep and Some Hot Dogs

Sans knocked on the ruins door, but Queen Toriel didn't answer. She was probably upset from last time, thinking the small Frisk thing was a mean joke. It would be better to talk to her in person anyways. He took a shortcut in the ruins and knocked beside her front door.

"Who is it?"

"Impossible."

"What?!" Toriel opened her door. "Impossible."

Sans waved at her. "Told you. Hello, Queen Toriel. I need to have a little conversation **_sans_** knock-knock jokes this time."

* * *

Having detailed conversations was hard. Explaining everything to Papyrus. Now explaining things to Toriel. This time though, he didn't drudge up Flowey or her daughter's essence that complicated FRISK that was now running the barrier.

"That's . . . uh . . ." Toriel touched her chin, rocking in her chair back and forth. "Six?"

"Alphys wants to take care of one, maybe two," Sans said. "These kids are all young, Tori. They can't survive out there. Can you handle them?"

"Four human children?" Toriel sat back in her chair for longer. "That is a lot of children. The ruins are so small. They always want to leave."

"Not this time. There's no way out. We can leave, not humans," Sans reminded her. "Besides, their other life is bad enough that I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"I would have to fix up my other room, I only have a couple extra beds." Toriel rocked in her chair longer. "If we leave on trips outside of the Ruins and anyone messes with my children, I will _not_ be merciful."

"Makes sense," Sans agreed. "Well?"

"I don't mind human children. I am glad to hear someone else likes them too. Four is tough, though. Are you sure no one else wants to take care of them?"

"Humans have always been on the menu for Monsters, but after this mess. When everyone discovers the truth, they are going to be the **_main course_**." Sans shrugged. "I still don't know how many might have snuck through. Could be ten. Could be a hundred. I'm already hearing reports about it, but I'm doing what I can." He yawned. "Can you watch four of them for a little while at least?"

"Okay," Toriel agreed. "I cannot abandon children in need. But, perhaps you could use some rest yourself?" She smiled as she stood up from her chair. "I have just the right bed for you." She covered her mouth. "Not that I meant you were as small as a child! Um." She raised up her finger. "You said you could use a couple of outfits for your own child? Come, let's get that figured out."

Sans looked through the mess of children's stuff. She kept most of it in a room labeled for renovation. Most everything was about . . . his size, and a little smaller. Then, he ran into a couple of outfits finally. "There we go. Thanks, Tori. This'll help in the future."

"Oh, I know. So, Frisk, huh? That's . . ." Toriel rubbed her fingers. "My child was a mother, but she rode inside the soul of her own child? With others. Which is what I saw? So, that's . . . awkward."

"At first, it kind of is," Sans said as he dug for anything else that might fit. "But, Chance and Frisky are way different. I'll let you meet them one day." He stood up with the clothes. "This is all?"

"Yes. Oh, I remember that one." She sounded a little sadder. "Very, very small. I was surprised it could move around by itself. It was over 500 years ago though." She looked toward the outfit. "It was often so sick. They must have been just learning how to use conduits. It's . . . it sounds so horrible." She looked toward the clothes Sans was holding. "Your child, Chance, he is quite small."

"Good thing. It'd be harder for him to ride the dog," he joked.

"It's much smaller than before," Toriel noticed. "It changed when you did that thing?"

"Yeah, it did. Some of the dormant genes kicked in." And really. How could he not have even questioned that? Data error was for Frisky because of teleportation, but Chance had already physically been in the Underground.

Or maybe, he just didn't want to question it.

"What about his mother, the one I knew? What does she look like now?" Toriel asked. "What does she act like? How is she different than the boy?

"She's . . ." Sans pointed at her. "She's got soft hair, really fragile skin, and blue eyes too. But, she's different. She's the part with determination," Sans chuckled. "Too dang much, so just be careful if you hear her doing puns or jokes."

"Why, is she that bad at them?" Toriel asked.

"It means there is a fight coming." Sans looked at the clothes. A red shirt with yellow stripes, a purple shirt with blue stripes, and a blue shirt with purple stripes. Sans knew Chance would like the last one the best. It looked like his old shirt. "Thanks, Tori."

"Um, Sans?" Toriel sounded a little unsure. "All these different timelines. What . . . happened?"

"Doesn't matter, it's all over."

"Yes. But?" She asked. "When Asgore . . . well, what-"

"Sometimes you took the power back, sometimes a fish overthrew you and banished you here, sometimes I came to live with you when Papyrus died, sometimes Papyrus would be King, sometimes the famous Mettaton would be King, sometimes we made it to the surface, sometimes other stuff happened, and _I don't really care about any of it_." His voice was probably too firm, but he didn't want to talk about it. At all. He tried to sound more upbeat again. "Thanks, Tori. I'll have my friend Alphys contact you soon."

"Sorry. It's just overwhelming. There's so much you said." She tried to smile back. "Over a thousand years, and I feel like I've been in the dark."

"It won't be dark soon anymore," Sans insisted, trying his best to smile. "Not very long and you'll see the skies. Promise. See ya, Tori."

"See you, Sans." She waved at him. "Oh, and good luck on the committing! I promise, I will not tell another soul about the truth."

* * *

Chance looked over toward Papyrus. He was busy in another best guard book. He wasn't watching him super careful, but it was still boring. He just sat in the snow, wishing he got to have more than a huge coat and floppy sweater that never fit. The sweater wasn't strong enough for the weather, but the coat was practically a blanket and annoying.

Papyrus barely even acknowledged him, only looking at him every few minutes. Well, it's not like Chance could go anywhere. He sighed and looked at his ball. _Stupid ball._ _If I could just move this thing._ _Hm._ Funny. For a split second, he thought he saw it scoot. With his mind. _Okay, that's not possible._

Then again, it was almost natural. He looked around, making sure nobody noticed the boring human, and then pointed to the ball. A small amount of blue light arose around it and it scooted again. Slightly. _Cool!_ Wow, conduits couldn't do that. Slowly but steadily, he moved the ball a little more, slowly, until he got it behind the bushes. There, he tried lifting it.

That was harder. It was heavy. Scooting it on the snow was easier than lifting it. _What else am I going to do though? I might as well practice. Imagine if I could start lifting things._

Then again, his mind drifted back to the question 'why'? He didn't have that before he arrived. He was just a normal kid that people took over. What could have happened to give him that new power?

"Ah ah, Chance." Papyrus came over toward him, picking up his ball and chain. "You are getting too far away. But, that's okay. It is break time!" He carried him away. "That means we are going to get more library books! Education is important to get ahead in life."

What? Papyrus actually called him by the name Sans used for him too now? Frisk personally liked the name, and even called himself it now too. But, Papyrus? Well, shoot, he only ever called him a human, a pet, or a prisoner.

Why was he actually getting a name?

* * *

 **Librarby**

While Papyrus was dwelling on books in the library, Chance was doing the same thing.

"Sir?" The librarian tapped on Papyrus' shoulder. "That thing you have on your ball and chain?"

"Oh, it's fine. Perfectly fine, doesn't bite at all," Papyrus assured her. "Chance is a good boy. No need to be frightened."

"Okay. Did you know it was reading?"

"Extra learning is good for it." Papyrus looked at Chance. "He likes education. He's going to be a smart boy." Papyrus moved over to Chance's ball. "Come, Chance. My break is almost over, and I must always be on alert for intruders."

Chance put his book down and grinned at him. "You bet, Papyrus." He grabbed a small picture book from the side that was the same color as the book he wanted to check out. "Can I check out a book?"

"Um, Calculators?" Papyrus scratched his skull.

"Yeah. The world I'm from, every kid is supposed to know a little. And, I am kind of not as knowledgeable?" Chance lied his butt off.

"Oh. Well, I suppose. Hand me your book."

"Can I check out more too?"

"Um? Okay, three," Papyrus settled on. "No more than three."

"Okay." Chance grabbed the calculator book, but put the book on Human Molecular Biology Theorizing, and Monster Molecular Biology underneath it. These books had to have the answer to what was happening to him.

* * *

 **Sans on Duty**

 _This is getting ridiculous._ Frisky stood up and went beside Sans who was sleeping. Doing nothing but being chained wasn't her idea of a good time, but not being able to do anything was the hard part. Now that they had their little Mercy talk, she felt comfortable enough to do this. She stood beside his booth, grabbed one of his Grillby wrappers and tossed it past his head.

He caught it instinctively, which she suspected. He looked toward her. "What are you doing over here?"

"Helping to guard," she said. "You need help."

"There's no one coming," he insisted. "Guarding's a waste of time right now, it's fine to catch some Z's."

"It would be, if you actually slept." Frisky looked toward him. "Go to sleep. I can touch your arm and wake you if anything happens."

Sans looked a little uncomfortable with her observation. "What do you mean? I sleep all the time. I'm the laziest guy around Snowdin." She wasn't falling for it though. Sans was one of the hardest working Monsters she knew. He was doing a half-sleep thing he mastered so that he could handle the hell her saving and resets caused in his life. And it must have been real hell. He had to eat several times a day just to try and combat the need to sleep too. All because the resets were wrecking him with his one hit point.

"You know, I've never told you I'm sorry about that part," Frisky added as she looked back toward him. "I know that when everything resets, Monsters don't suddenly get their energy back. I know that the weaker the hit points a monster has, the more it affects them. And, I know there have been quite a lot of activity since humans have been down here. Plus, me and . . . I know that my meddling couldn't have been easy on you. So seriously. Get some _real_ rest."

Sans looked around himself. "Real rest?"

"If you don't give yourself real rest, then when you are needed, you're going to be too tired," Frisky told him. "No one is invincible." It was true. Before he remembered the resets, he had already been so affected by the interrupting saves and resets that he slept right through Undyne. She never had to worry about talking to him while she was outrunning Undyne, he was always conked out.

Sans still looked unsure.

"I promise I shall rattle your bones in seconds," Frisky said. Sans closed his eyes again. After a few minutes, she tossed another Grillby wrapper past his skull. This time, he didn't wake. Good. "Pleasant dreams," she whispered softy.

 _Finally._ Without needing questions about her world. Without feeling guilt about the genocidal runs. Frisky could finally give her friend Sans what he needed. A real break. Some real rest. After a few minutes, a peculiar thing happened. He was snoring.

How do skeletons snore? Then again, how do they see with only eye sockets or hear without ears? Close eye sockets without real eyelids. Laugh with no internal organs. Peculiar. As he got louder, someone walked by and called him a lazy bum.

And he was finally asleep enough for her to take action against that. "Excuse me, Sir, what did you say?"

"Sans. _Always_ sleeping. Look at you, actually taking up his duty." They pointed at her.

"I am proud to help him with his duty considering all he has done for me. He is not having me do anything, I insisted upon this. He is one of my dearest friends."

"Well." The Monster still didn't seem convinced. "He's kind of fun, I'll give ya that, but a dear friend? How dear?"

"If you get one step closer and wake him up, you will regret it," she said. "He needs sleep. Leave him be."

"Heh. Oh, is the little chained up human going to fight me?"

"On the contrary, I really do not like to fight." She winked at him. "I prefer other activities."

"Oh." She made him blush. "Well, um, I'm married."

"Yeah, I know." She leaned over the booth, gently grabbed his jacket and drug him over, whispering into his ear. "I know all kinds of things. Like, where and when she shops. Like, where and when you like to eat. I also know at exactly what. Point. I could get away with really flirting with you?" He looked toward her, blushing even harder now. "While she's watching." He started to back away. "So don't wake him up. I act. I don't fight." She winked at him again and watched him leave.

Good. That took care of one of them. Frisky watched the day though, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. No intruders, Monster or human. Just the same residents. Still, it was quite relaxing to see the sun shine above her. If it got much nicer, the snow might actually start to melt. Of course, it wouldn't melt very far before it got cold again.

Strange though. Snowdin was supposed to have one of the most vicious climates on her planet next to Hotlands, which is why that area was perfect for Monsters. She felt a little cold, and even a bigger chill at night, but she was still getting some protection from above.

She had to. Even now, she was standing in the icy snow. And while a little cold, it was nothing that made someone need to go and beg for shoes. More like a chilly sidewalk. That only meant one thing, which also helped to keep her spirits high.

FRISK was still connected. Even though the connection must have been light, the fact that she wasn't freezing meant at least more than two Frisks made it out, and they were still able to transmit for protection. She looked over toward Sans again.

For some reason, even though the threat of FRISK was gone, he still seemed unable to relax. Hopefully, a good day of some absolute rest would help. He was either yawning, sleeping while standing, or fighting. Even the few jokes he'd managed to do lately didn't seem to change his expression at all. It was more of an act he put on so no one could tell something was bugging him.

 _What is bugging you?_ Of course, he'd never tell her. He kept most of his secrets, just that. Secret. But, at least she managed to get him to get some good rest. She honestly wished she could have had a pillow for him.

* * *

"So, how is Sansy?"

"Resting."

"Still?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Say, do you know when he'll stop by at Grillby's again?"

Sans' friends were being a bit peculiar. Normally, Sans wasn't bothered much before, but this was like the sixth friend that stopped by to see him. Which was frustrating. "I don't know. At some point, Sir."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry to disturb you." He left.

Odd Monsters. Frisk looked toward the sun. It became too cloudy to see it too well, but it looked like the afternoon had been cleared away. Sans was supposed to move over to his second job selling hotdogs soon. Which she didn't want to wake him up for, but she didn't want him getting in trouble either.

If she jostled his arm awake, he might go into alert mode. Frisky wanted to wake him up softer. But, how do you gently wake up someone like Sans? As she looked at the snow, she had an idea. She picked up a little in her hands and sprinkled it on top of his skull.

No response. She bent down and sprinkled more snow on his skull. Still no response. Hmm. She bent down and tried to pick up more snow, but felt something on top of her head instead.

And it wasn't a sprinkle. He was up and laughing at her.

"There's **_snow_** comparison for a snowball on the head," he said.

Frisky wiped the huge pile of snow off her head. "I think it's about time for your second job."

"Great." Sans picked up her ball and whistled on the way there. Frisky could easily tell he had gotten the rest he deserved.

"Hey, Sans, how's it going?" Sans friend from Grillbys said as he waved at him.

"It's going to the hot dog stand," Sans said back. As he arrived at the hot dog stand, he grabbed one. "So. You want one?"

"Sure."

"Good. Here. You want another one?"

Um. Frisky looked at him oddly. Did he just stick a hotdog on her head? "Did you just put a hotdog on my head?" He was amused about it too. Oh no. If there was catsup on that hotdog, it would be a pain to wash. "Catsup?"

"Sure."

Sans! Never mind putting him in a good mood, he was now destroying her hair. How was she going to pull that off of her head without help? He wasn't going to help, he was the one who did it. The one who did it, probably grinning like the devil inside. _Hmm. Weaknesses. Sleep. Food._ It didn't take long. "I will make you a deal. I still have a little bit of GOLD in my account. If we stop by a shop tonight, I can make us a cake. With half of it, catsup frosting. If you can get this off my head without losing any catsup in my hair."

Ooh. Ooh, she had him. If Skeletons could drool. He rubbed his jawbone as he lifted the hotdog slightly. "Well, I liked the deal. But I already lost, so."

He smeared it. He smeared the ketchup all the way down the sides of her hair. _Nooo_ _._

He chuckled. "Aw, come on. Don't go seeing ** _red_** now."

Frisky glared at him, her hands fisted. "Catsup all over in my hair. Great, why stop there? Add mustard and relish while you're at it."

"Okay." He did just that with the mustard. "Where do you want the relish?"

"On the sides would be great, just like a hotdog. Got any onions?"

"You're a strange one." Sans shrugged. "But I like them strange. Cheese?"

"Squeezable?"

"You bet."

"Sure why not. Can you make it wavy in my hair?" Sans was on his guard, she could tell, but he still finished her request. Gloppy strings of cheese fell all over her hair. She still didn't lose her cool.

"Okay. Seriously, what are you going to do?" Sans asked. "You're covered in condiments. A Monster will try to eat you that way."

She took a step back. "Advertising. Once Monsters hear me shout just how great a hotdog vendor you are, and how well the condiments stayed on, I'm sure they'll come running." She held her hands up and felt him put her hands down.

"Hey, no joke, I have to keep this job!"

 _Got him._ She pretended to slip into the snow and fell all the way down him. Shaking her hair because after that 'accident' she was also dizzy and needed to regain her bearings. "My, that was an unexpected fall." She turned around with her thumb in the air and her left eye closed like an artist judging their painting. "Ooh. Looks like you've been Van Goughed."

"Van what?" He looked at his white shirt and coat. It wasn't the biggest deal to spill catsup, sometimes, but he was smeared in it. Along with the relish, mustard and gloppy cheese. "Frisky?!"

"What? I slipped." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You are so dang lucky I didn't meet _you_ much inside FRISK like the others in Snowdin. I might not have kept that promise," Sans said, taking off his jacket and trying to fling a lot of it off. He turned it inside out. "But you also aren't lucky." He moved toward her ball and chain. She quickly went after the same direction. He changed direction, wrapping the inside out jacket around her.

She was too surprised, she stumbled for real this time, complete with Sans, into the snow.

"Ha!" he said pointing to her shirt behind her coat. "Wearing the shirt or not, it really was you this time."

"Actually, these aren't my clothes," she reminded him. "They are yours, so I was still successful. I won this."

"Did not."

"Did too." She laughed as he started to tickle her. "That is cheating, that is so against any code!" As she wiggled around though, she noticed something strange. "Sans? I didn't know you had a blue tongue?"

His tongue? Sans tucked his tongue back in his mouth quickly and got up off the ground. That was weird. "Come on, we need to go home and get redressed. Papyrus is going to kill me when he sees us."

* * *

 **At Sans and Papyrus' Home . . .**

Chance was laughing. Frisky stood straight up, like a good soldier. Sans just waved.

"Sup?"

"Don't sup me, Brother!" Papyrus shouted as he gestured to Frisky and him. "What is that?!"

"Condiments."

"They are all over you!"

"Guess so."

"Why?"

Frisky and Sans both pointed at each other.

"She did it," Sans blamed her.

"He put a hotdog on my head, Sir. With catsup."

"She was going to yell for 'advertising' and it could have got me fired."

"He used his inside-out jacket and got the condiments all over my clothes, Sir."

"They were messy because she rubbed against me."

"I slipped. Twas an accident, The Great Papyrus."

"Twas no accident."

"Yes, I see." Papyrus covered his skull with his bony hand. "Both of you are to blame!" Chance continued to laugh as he came over and rubbed the catsup off his mom's shirt. "No, no, don't you get dirty too." He moved Chance away. "Go get dressed, and tonight a bath. Each of you!"

Sans took Frisky upstairs and left her be while he continued back downstairs.

"Don't even think about sitting down until you are all cleaned up," Papyrus warned him.

"Pap. Um."

"No, I don't even want to hear sorry!" Sans stuck out his tongue for him to see and then tucked it back away. "Uh?" Papyrus' scolding stopped. "Why do you still have a tongue?"

Sans shrugged. Every once in awhile, it would manifest while he was eating a hot dog or a Grillby's burger. They were so good, it often couldn't help itself. He kept it plenty tucked away for his brother's spaghetti though. Something tasty triggered it, but, he hadn't been eating anything. Not only that, it was still there.

"Hm. Eating on duty?"

"Nope."

"And it's still there?"

Sans opened his mouth again. The tongue was still there.

"That doesn't make any sense. What stimulated it?" Papyrus asked. "Why is it still stimulated?"

"A skele ** _tongue_** of a question," Sans winked.

Chance laughed. "Wait. How do Skeletons suddenly have tongues, and then not?"

Ooh. Sans share a look at Papyrus. Chance didn't know a thing about Skeletons. There was a good chance with the way his body reacted, he was going to become one. "Later." Yeah, reality hit his head again. That had to have been the most fun experience he had ever had with any FRISK with the hotdogs. Since she refused to meet him but one time except in Judgment Hall, he wanted to see if she remembered it. Add at least one new experience, but it was so much better than that. None of FRISK ever tried to take him down in one of his own games.

It was fun. Lots, actually. But, that wouldn't happen again anytime soon. Not once she knew.

Not once she really became a prisoner forever.

"Sans? You okay?"

"Fine. Um. Did you want to switch again?"

"If you want?"

"Yeah. The kid is less messy." Sans tried to chuckle. "Come on, Chance. Let's go."

"But, don't you want a longer break?" Papyrus asked. "Sans?"


	20. Poisoned by Spaghetti

**The Lab . . .**

"Uh. So." Alphys stared at all six of the children. It was such a big decision. All the kids were wonderful, but it's not like 'mother' ever entered her mind before. It would be nice to have someone though. That big lab, so far away from everyone. That would be a good thing for them too, no one would be able to hurt them.

One or two. She knew she should probably pick two, too. But who? None of them had names. They all seemed fine. Ohh. Sans wanted her to make a decision though, and four of them would be sent to Queen Toriel.

The Queen would have room for four. Once again, two. "Oh my." Alphys just waved at them. They all smiled but stood up straight in a row with their hands behind their backs. Like little soldiers. "Which one of you wanted an Aunt Alphys again?"

They all raised their hands eagerly.

"Yeah, I thought so." She laughed nervously again. None of these kids had any real family. Any real name.

"I think the two at the end suit you, Dino Nerd."

"What?!" Alphys watched as Chara appeared right behind the kids. "Ch-Ch-Ch-"

"Chara. Formerly Princess Chara. Still technically Princess Chara but whatever. Not like everyone always respected my human butt." Chara smiled at the kids. "Yo! I'm Chara. Spirit, can't hug ya. Sorry. Sup, kids?"

"Uh?" Alphys cleared her throat. "Aren't you supposed to be . . .?"

"The barrier reaches everywhere," Chara smiled at her. "Everywhere! Ha, I'm not trapped anywhere. All of the Underground I can roam in now. Don't worry though, I can't touch anything. Not like I have a real body. I'm just a spirit, but, it feels good. I feel really good again. Able to move around." She walked along the floor. "Anywhere I want. Not trapped. Not forced to watch anything. Not forced to eat anything. I can . . . I can just be me. I can even talk to Monsters, how crazy is that? They don't even know I'm not really alive anymore. Really cool trick. So, which two are you getting? You know, I can help babysit. I was really good at that."

"Wow." One of the boys smiled at her. "You're cool."

"I know. And 'cause you know that, it makes you cool too." Chara winked at him. "Hey, you speak Monster?"

"Yes," he said.

"Monster's not too hard. Best to study more though, really is before you get all out in the Underground. I did that. It took me a good three years before I felt good enough to come over. Yep, no more cheating with other souls anymore," Chara teased him. "So you want a goat for a momma, or you want a dinosaur for an aunt? One's in the Ruins, and ones in a lab. So." She shrugged.

"Uuhh . . ."

"Alright, I'll be nice and talk to you in your tongue. I knew you didn't know Monster enough, fibber." Alphys heard Chara talk in a strange tongue. Probably human. The kids started to speak back to her.

"Um. None of them really want to stay in a lab. They are kind of scared you're going to shove needles in them and stuff. But, they still want family, so they are torn."

"No! Uh, no. I'm not here for that." Alphys held her hands over her chest. "Safe. Safe here." She looked toward Chara. Maybe it was a good thing she was there after all. There would have been an old translator somewhere, but it would be nicer to talk to another human. Well, human spirit. Monster children would probably scream if someone just confessed they weren't alive like Chara did too, but the children stayed still. Perfectly still.

Perfect. Little. Soldiers. Alphys felt her heart almost break. They knew they were in a lab, but they still didn't run off. Two of them would be chosen, and none of them left or even blinked. "Queen Toriel can't handle all six. But, I-I don't want them to be scared either."

Chara talked to them again. This time she got a slightly different response from a couple. "They understand," she said. "I said I'd be around as a bonus over here. Um." This time, Chara was the one acting weird. "I kind of . . . well I. I don't want to see my mom. Not that I hate her. It's just that. I just don't feel right about it."

Alphys nodded. She looked back toward the children. "Um. Very safe. Really cozy. Comfortable." Alphys tried to keep her words simple.

One of the kids finally stepped forward. She looked like a little girl, but her hair was cut short. It was hard to tell. "I can . . . I can speak dang good Monster."

Dang good. Close enough. "You want to stay with me?" Alphys asked her. She nodded. Okay. Good.

"Come on, you guys," Chara said. "The Dino Nerd needs one more. I bet she'll give big yellow squeezes like Barney or something. Oh wait, that shows probably a couple thousand years old or more. Uh, never mind. You won't get that reference."

Wait. "A couple?" Alphys looked toward Chara. "It's been about a thousand. Hasn't it?" Did the resets . . . did it really put the world that much behind? "Chara?"

"Look, I only know what I used to pick up from FRISK," Chara said. "And what I knew from before. I don't know anything else. If you want those specifics, I'm not the one for the job. You need a flower. He knows everything." She did wink at Alphys. "I will say this. Anything I used to know like the actual songs they play? It's called _ancient_ to them, but they were what I listened to growing up. Humans haven't been allowed to make it anymore. Hurts the Balancers ears, so no go."

"Oh. Well, I . . . I guess I'll figure how far we are really behind later."

"Yeah, don't be surprised if it's like three or five or ten thousand years though."

Crumbling. Alphys felt herself crumbling inside.

"Too rough. Sorry," Chara apologized. "Anyhow, the kid on the end looks like he's been following the whole story real well. Haven't ya, kid?"

He looked away a second, then turned back and nodded to her.

"A boy and a girl. Not bad for an Aunt Alphys."

"Okay." Two children. She did it. "Thank you for helping, Princess Chara."

"Yeah, it's alright. Although I miss _my_ Itty Bitty, I have to stay away a bit longer. But, one more thing. The barrier." Chara looked above herself. Even though she was far away from the barrier, Alphys could tell. Chara really was part of the barrier. "Keep it up, don't put it down for anything. Not even a second. There is stuff in the air constantly scanning the barrier, already trying to break in." She looked toward the kids. "Don't you worry though. Your Aunt Chara has got a buttload of determination and they aren't getting through _my_ barrier no matter what."

"Oh. Well, um, the technology itself is pretty hijacked," Alphys confessed. "I don't know if we'd ever want to do that. We might not be able to put it back up. We might lose the power. I don't really know. We won't do anything at first until we at least understand it better."

"Yeah, you Monsters are too kind sometimes. Especially with all these new humans running around. So, I'll say it again, in a better way for you. Alright? Don't. Touch. _My_ barrier. Capisce?"

Alphys didn't know what the last word meant, but she could tell from the other words. Yeah. Maybe they should have questioned using Chara's determination to help power it . . .

Chara snapped her fingers. "Check it. I decorated the lab entrance for you with my new laser capability. Isn't that cool? This barrier has lasers. I so have plans for this."

 _Oh no. Oh no!_ "W-what'd you put?"

"Welcome to Aunt Alphys in the dirt with a smiley face. Figured the kids would like it."

Or . . . maybe not?

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

If only she wasn't prisoner. Frisky would make all kinds of different things. Make some real food. Although Sans always preferred Grillbys, it was mostly because the alternative was a hot dog and spaghetti. His brother's spaghetti. Which wasn't the easiest thing to eat.

It was edible. She'd tasted worse having survived in gnarly jungles, but they really didn't have to eat like that. Still, she was a prisoner. Maybe she could perhaps ask a little about the oven. _No, no. I know we will be free again soon one day. Last thing I need is for_ _Undyne_ _catching me doing that_ _._ Honestly, Grillbys was easier. Hotdogs were easy too. She sat up on the mattress with her spaghetti.

"I have a new recipe tonight!" Papyrus announced as he gave Chance his share too. "It's sweeter."

"Different, huh?" Sans said from over by the door. "Could I get in on it?"

"Sure, it's downstairs. Come, Sans!"

* * *

 _Please be better. Please be better._ Sans kept repeating the mantra in his head. At the very least, it would be different. Something he really craved. Honestly, as long as the new spaghetti was edible though, he wanted it. He was really looking for something that wasn't too bad, because he still had his annoying tongue. He'd eaten his usuals, and even shot for an MTT's Glamburger, but none of them satisfied his tongue. He crept up into the kitchen and saw two different pans of sauce as well as the usual spaghetti. "Two pans, bro?"

"Yes! I found out one would taste better to the human. It has syrup in it."

"Syrup." That was strange, but who cared. It was different.

"Yep, but I made my usual too," Papyrus said proudly. "You can't beat Artisan Spaghetti!"

After taking a bite, Sans quickly dropped the idea of different. Forget different. "Guess not." Syrup and spaghetti did _not_ mix on a tongue. If only he could get the thing to fade away already.

"Yes, it is a desert spaghetti. Very sweet, but strange. Then, I have more syrup for on top of the syrup. I suppose they like extremely sweet things."

"More on top?" Sans scratched his skull. That didn't make much sense at all. Why top syrup with more syrup?

"Yes, but. Oh, oop." Papyrus sighed. "Shoot, I messed it up. He said only the bigger human would like the extra syrup, and I think I put it on both of theirs. Oh well."

"He?" Wait. Undyne was the one who was teaching him to cook, and Alphys swore she wouldn't mess with Frisky or Chance. Besides which, Undyne was an upfront fighter. "Papyrus, where'd you get this new recipe?"

"From Undyne's Royal Guard of course! Yes, Doggo met with me today and said all the humans in Snowdin and Waterfall were to have a special recipe spaghetti, but the adults would get it with extra syrup on top. Strangest thing, isn't it? Why would adults like extra syrup? It would make sense that-Sans? Why are you running upstairs?"

Sans moved through the door as fast as he could as he watched Chance standing, his eyes closed in front of a vomit-filled floor. Frisky was passed out on the bed. "It's dangerous to take him over by myself, especially with wrong dimensions, but I think we were poisoned."

Oh. Not Chance. FRISK.

* * *

"I-I'm so sorry! I can't believe my spaghetti is killing them!" Papyrus wailed as he waited in Monster Kid's house. "I was following orders. I was just following orders."

Sans didn't answer. He was sitting on the couch. Monster Kid's mother was a light healer. She didn't have near the strength of Toriel, but this was poison. No time to think. The faster, the better. Meanwhile, Frisky was enduring the pain for Chance. Frisky's body was lying unconscious, getting treatment too since leaving her body probably didn't stop the poison.

"Mm." Papyrus looked at the floor. "Undyne seemed genuinely sorry about the mix-up when I called her. Apparently, there have some very naughty humans in greater numbers, and she was issuing a termination. I really thought that something new would be nice. I didn't know."

Sans didn't say anything else on the couch. He just stared ahead, blankly.

He watched as Monster Kid's mom came out toward them.

"Uh, hello, Sentries. I'm not used to healing humans. I think they will be okay though."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Papyrus cried in relief. "That, that would have been a horrible way to go. By spaghetti."

"Yah." Sans looked over toward Monster Kid's mother. "Can we see them?"

"Um, no. You can see the mother human, but not the boy."

"He probably needs more rest. He's so extra small," Papyrus said to Sans.

"Um. No, not that. He bounced out of bed and out the window. You might want to go find him."

* * *

 **Undyne's Home . . .**

 **FRISK:** **ACT: Joke.** "We are wrecking your entire house again and we aren't even making spaghetti this time." FRISK kept his eyes closed as he jumped from another spear. "You don't know how good I got at dodging those things. Why are you doing this?"

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "You are not that boy!" **FIGHT.**

FRISK dodged her again, easily. **FRISK:** **ACT:** **Talk**. "Yeah, I am. Do you think a little human child could have ever done what I did?"

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "I know what I've seen recently! I know what Alphys told me about you too. About how you could save or butcher Monsters, and you constantly did both. You should feel lucky that I let you live last time!" **FIGHT.**

 **FRISK:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "I don't know how you know that, but it doesn't really matter. Listen, Undyne, I can deal with your spears against me. I can deal with you even carving into me as a warning. I know how you feel about me. I'm sure the news was hard to hear."

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "I trusted a human! Do you know what humans have done lately?"

 **FRISK:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "No. I don't pretend to know everything. Just know that the thing inside me that was vicious? It's gone. Most of what I used to be, it's gone. What you see is a shell, but there's someone talking to you from inside this shell. There always has been. And, there's an innocent boy, who is always trapped inside of this shell too. So, please. Stop attacking."

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "I didn't start it, you came after me in my own house, so fight, damn you!" **FIGHT** **.**

FRISK avoided more blows. **FRISK:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "There is nothing evil inside of me anymore, and I will never fight you. Even though you keep trying to hurt me, I will never hurt you. I understand _why_ you try to hurt me."

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT.** **Talk.** "How are you so much more expressive?" Undyne looked at FRISK. "You . . . you barely ever talked. You're . . . you're good at dodging, I'll give you that." She paused. "Fine. If you want me to believe that you really are the goodness and spirit of the human I once befriended, then you better prove it! I don't care what Alphys said, we are finishing this. Start Running."

FRISK knew that would happen. Talking was always the hardest with Undyne. He took off into the night as quick as possible, avoiding the spears that came up from the ground. _Dodge. Dodge. Dodge. Dodge._ With seven souls in a perfect conduit, dodging was child's play, but she was only herself inside FRISK. Still, she was feeling weaker and faster than what should have happened. She should have had at least 24 hours inside Chance before feeling weaker. She wouldn't be able to dodge forever, but, eventually she made it all the way to familiar grounds. Too familiar for Undyne to just keep ignoring the ties they shared.

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "You still won't fight. Even after everything, you still refuse to fight. You really are _him_ , aren't you?"

 **FRISK:** **ACT: Talk.** "This is still just a shell," FRISK said, "but the shell is real too. A little boy who is being hurt by someone who doesn't understand the value of his life. You know that every Monster's life is precious, but it's not just Monsters. Every life is precious, and I try to remember that, no matter what. So, please? Just let us be, in the name of someone who helped you once?"

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "I didn't do anything to you. Doggo gave it to Papyrus, not me. I pretended to skip it since Alphys said not to mess with you. That was for the other prisoners, by order of King Asgore. But I don't trust humans either. And, how do I know for a fact you won't turn?"

Undyne wasn't responsible? **FRISK** **:** **ACT: Talk.** "I'm glad to hear that, but, you can't just kill humans off. Please. I'm not demanding you let me go or trust humans. Just don't make them all equal. Talk to King Asgore." She could feel her head starting to sweat, getting too close to the hotter part of the Underground. While Undyne barely felt the heat yet, and she was a fish, she was still a Monster. A human shouldn't be so close. She should have been fine in FRISK but. "I can't . . ."

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "What is wrong?"

Concern. Almost. **FRISK:** **ACT: Talk.** "It's too hot. I . . ."

 **UNDYNE:** **ACT: Talk.** "You knew getting this close was dangerous." Undyne looked around, obviously feeling foolish. "Punk. I . . . I'm sorry for not making more sure that you were okay. Seven souls before, but you're the . . . the real part that was the little punk I faced. The part that never fought. The part that never gave up." She approached FRISK and picked her up. "Alright. You're a good human, and . . . you're free. You and your boy. Come on, I'll take you back."

* * *

Undyne waited patiently inside Monster Kid's house with Sans and Papyrus. Papyrus asked her about the spaghetti, and if the new recipe would still be good without the poison syrup topping. Sans remained quiet.

Alphys bolted through the door. "Undyne!" she yelled. Alphys laughed nervously. "Um. Let's go back to your place for a little while?"

"Why?"

"L-let's just go. I-I have something I want to tell you." Alphys looked shakily over at Sans before looking back at Undyne. "Please come with me? Undyne?"

"Alright, okay." Undyne stood up and headed out the door. "What is it?"

"I-I told you not to mess with Sans," Alphys said as they started to walk. "I-I know that maybe I said it too softly, um, I-I don't really like to yell out, uh, everything as loud as it should be. So, um, when I said to stay on Sans the Skeleton's good side? I-I think I shouldn't have been like. "Oh by the way, stay on Sans the Skeleton's good side." She fidgeted with her fingers. "I-I think I should have been yelling it through a megaphone. It was really important, and um. I . . . I'm sure he's not happy about what happened."

Undyne sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I got confused about the kid. When I heard what it could do from you, I-I couldn't believe I trusted that thing! But, that wasn't my fault. I intended to skip them. Doggo probably got mixed up, or he still had hurt feelings about others teasing him about some occurrence in a restaurant. I don't know. King Asgore is tired of innocent little Monsters being murdered by all these humans inside. But, you were right. One soul or seven, it was still him. I guess I should have talked it out more first, but someone comes at you at your front door and says you poisoned them. Come on, I wasn't overreacting, was I?"

"H-her, actually. She's um, a mom inside her son. You can't forget that," Alphys said. She didn't say much else until they reached Undyne's house. Undyne unlocked her door and went inside.

Alphys continued the subject now. "I know that you were confused and upset, but Frisky was good. She was confused, and wanted to keep you from hurting her boy."

"Yeah," Undyne admitted softly. "When I battled Frisk, I could feel a difference in power. A lot weaker, but she kept avoiding me as long as possible. Again. He-she would still die apparently not to kill even one of us. To even fight one of us. It was . . . it was still the same human. Proved to me that some humans are still good."

"Yes, and um, I-I kind of didn't tell you everything about Sans? Again, you know? Sorry." Alphys scratched her head. "I didn't want to tell you because I'm sure Sans wanted a little more time. But, Sans is. W-well. He lost some people in his own mind."

"I won't mess with them. I never messed with them. I won't even come for a fight," Undyne promised. "It's still just the same little punk from before. I get it now. I even granted her freedom."

"Yes, but, um, granting them freedom wasn't what Sans wanted. So, could you ungrant that freedom, so Sans will be happier about it?"

"Alphys, I still don't get it," Undyne almost scoffed. "Sans is one hit point. _One._ He's a lazy, no good excuse of a Sentry that I put up with. One spear hit would do him in. Why are you bending me backwards over him?"

"Well, yes. Technically he is the weakest opponent. But, well, there was a reason he can't gain EXP. And I can't go through it right now, but uh. Well, I shouldn't reveal secrets, so, just stay on his good side?"

"You said that he fought FRISK and lost at the end of any of the bad timelines," Undyne reminded her. "Lost. So. Why should I be afraid of him? Because he was the last one to make a stand?" Undyne covered her face. "Alphys, just relax."

"Okay. Just, maybe not visit Frisky or her son yet?" Alphys warned her. "And maybe, don't see Sans for awhile?"

"I get it. I get it."

"I-I don't think so," Alphys warned her. "I came running this way as fast as possible when I saw what was happening, Undyne. Even though Frisky inside her son looked like she was in danger, she was _never_ in danger of dying. She actually wasn't in most of the good timelines either. There's a . . . there was a force around her. I couldn't see it or understand it so well, until I knew more about things, and had um, some extra data. But, um." She sighed. "Just, please don't mess with Sans."

"You're beating this subject to death. I get it, I _promise_ _._ If King Asgore asks for a blanket killing again, then I will doubly go to the house and make sure she and her son is fine. Okay? I even duked it out with the little guy again. Girl. Whatever." Undyne shrugged. Alphys bugged her one more time to be extra careful, and then left.

"Funny," Undyne said offhand. "Alphys. Really. Just because he knew about timelines doesn't make him all powerful. One hit point." She rolled her eyes and sat down in her kitchen table. "Still, at least the kid's alive. Mm, woman. Geez, what do I even call it?"

"Frisky."

"Yeah, I could call it by its name. Huh?" Undyne turned around and saw Sans at the door. "You forgot to knock."


	21. Nightmares and Bedtime Stories

"I forgot to tell you," Sans said, his voice sounding a little irritated, "something important. I need a pay raise and more hours."

Was he kidding? "A pay raise? More hours?" Undyne got her hair out of her face. "You can't even stay awake for the little work you have now."

"It depends on your idea of awake," Sans replied, "still, I'm going to need a pay raise and more hours."

"Why?"

"Because you just freed Frisky and Chance, so now I have to really hurry. I don't have much time left. I can't put it off much longer anyway."

"What are you blubbering-" Undyne didn't finish her sentence as she found herself in an encounter.

Sans pushed his hand in the other direction from where Undyne was sitting, making Undyne fly to the other wall.

Undyne rubbed her head unenthusiastically before reaching for her spear, which became pinned to the wall.

"See. How to explain?" Sans started. "I didn't really care before what was happening. Who was really in charge of FRISK. I didn't even try to stop them in the timelines unless it was an all-out battle to kill every Monster they could." Sans pointed at her, making her rise to the middle of the room. "It was real boring, resetting, and almost numbing. I followed clues that popped up every now and then, but other than that, I didn't really care about anything at all. Everything was _pointless_."

He pointed downward, slamming her to the ground. "I died several times too, like everyone else. But, you probably knew that." He flung his arm up, sending her in the air, and then crashing down below again. "I bet Alphys told you that, but I know she didn't tell you everything. She knows I like privacy, and she probably can't remember everything." Sans brought her back to the middle of the room and stood her back up. "And I'm not bothering with it all again. It's draining, and it's a lot. So, just keep this in mind?"

He stuck his hands back in his coat. "I'm worth a pay raise." He approached her closer where she was constantly growling and giving him dirty looks. "Yeah, I know, annoying huh? I've never been affected by board rules. I don't know why. Anyhow, back to the interview. One hit point doesn't matter if I know how to dodge, but that handicap is gone too, due to a little ditty I heard." He took his bony finger and shook it at her like she was being bad. "You don't know want to see what I can do now."

He took his magic completely off of her. She quickly grabbed her spear, but before she did anything, he used his magic to lift it up. "I'd much rather just do what I do now. Hang out. Tell jokes. I like that kind of life. Lots of magic means fighting and Royal Guard and things. I'm not interested in that unless it's an emergency. So, if we could keep this between us, I'd appreciate it." He took his magic off her spear again.

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK** "How the hell are you so strong?!" Undyne panted, holding her spear at her side.

Sans scratched his skull. "Like I said, a little ditty Frisky let me play. Now, Frisky and Chance." He waved his hand around. "Alphys tell you about the human experimentation?"

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK** "Yeah, she did. A horrible, cowardly race." Undyne stood up. "Spying on us. Entrapping us. Even now, they are hiding and killing innocent Monsters to try and grow strong. There are no innocents except that boy. Which apparently was a woman. Still trying to get used to that."

"Hm. Knew there was a reason I haven't heard of any around here lately." Sans shook his head. "So, 'cause Chance was a kid, he was innocent. Just older humans are supposed to die."

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK** "King Asgore's order." Undyne sighed. "A horrible species. They had no right to manipulate us."

"Can't quite disagree," Sans admitted. "I almost want to wipe every single one off the face of the planet. Heck, the only reason FRISK ever even made it to Snowdin is because I made a promise to watch the human. A thousand years, probably more, thinking we were down in the dark. Surrounded by cavern walls. Entrapped. Manipulated memories. So, I can't blame ya, but, that 'horrible race' also did something else too."

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK** "Help us reach the 'surface'?" Undyne groaned. "I know, there are a few good ones. I remember hearing about that."

"Yeah, but that's not what I was going to say." His eye socket suddenly had the vision of an actual eye inside of it. Undyne had never seen that before. Ever. It was so creepy and the sheer power radiating from him was so intense! "Leave _my_ humans alone."

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK** "Your humans?" That phrasing. That look. Undyne couldn't move, and she did not know if it was from his magic or . . . her own fear. Fear of that look in his eye.

Sans closed his eye sockets a moment, and reopened them. His eye sockets were back to normal. "Sorry about that. I get in little moods sometimes. Anyhow, do whatever you want to the others. King Asgore or otherwise. I'm not going to fight you on it. I don't care, but not Frisky or Chance." He closed his eye sockets again and sighed. "Frisky's goal was a lie. She doesn't know it yet, but the only goal was to make us fight. All the timelines, resets, genocide, it was all the human's game to make me strike Chance. To light up his own magic."

"Magic?"

"That kid. The body of the one you actually fought? Yeah, that is _mine_. I already lost way too much. So many pictures. Way too many pictures." His voice became uneven. "Want more, Ask Alphys. Ask her whatever at this point." He opened his eyes again, weary. "How'd the interview go this time?"

 **UNDYNE: ACT: TALK.** "You came face to face. Rattled some of my hit points. Kept control. Much better than last time. When you first applied, you were on the other side of Snowdin from me." She sighed. "So, a little Monster is yours that you didn't even know about." Shoot. Undyne closed her eyes, feeling terrible. Horrible. "You should have told me sooner! Why didn't you tell me that sooner?"

 **MERCY: Spare.** "I have enough to deal with. I can't do everything."

"This isn't a little thing, Sans! There are procedures, rules, requirements." She grasped her head. "If he starts showing magic, then you can't _hide_ the truth." Not one pun since he walked in the door. In fact, lately his puns had almost been gone. The little lazy jokester. Poor little lazy jokester. "Okay, I'll up your salary," Undyne agreed. She eyed him carefully. "You should be more than a Sentry."

"Don't really want that."

"What are you going to do?" Undyne said, cornering him, in an emotional sense. "Standard Monster rule would say marriage."

"Committing under secrecy."

"Ah, I thought so. Sneaking under the radar. I don't blame you. Especially since you and Papyrus are the only Skeletons in the Underground. Which would mean you'd have another duty."

"Yeah, I know." Sans backed up a little. "So don't tell anyone. _Please_."

"Do you think King Asgore will fall for it long enough?" Undyne asked. "Is it showing any magic yet?"

"Is _he_ showing any magic yet," Sans corrected her. "Not yet, but something will happen soon. Alphys will make the new barrier transparent and King Asgore should be so fascinated by it, I don't think he'll think about it too much."

"Good because as pure-hearted as that human can be, I doubt she'd be into you much. You're kind of . . . uhhh, never mind, but you are lacking a _lot_ , Sans. You will have to take care of two extra people. Even with Papyrus committing to them too, and an advance in salary, you still might not be approved."

Sans groaned. "Fine. Emergency Royal Guard. _Only_ in emergencies. I don't want to deal with anything unless everyone else gave it their all. But, don't tell Papyrus though, he's in training. I don't want him feeling bad."

"Agreed." Undyne nodded. "So. The human. Heh, it's always been a little unpredictable. Are you wanting both contracts, or just hostile?"

Sans tapped his slippered foot on the ground. "As nice as we've been to each other. I don't see . . ." He stopped tapping his slippered foot. "Hostile."

"Smart choice. Probably only choice."

"One more thing." Sans yawned. "But, uh, try to give the humans with P on their outfits a break if you can? They never hurt anything. Okay?"

"Hm. Well. I'll keep it in mind," she said slowly.

"Not a rule of course. I just trapped them down here forever too, so you never know. Might decide to change sides." He turned and gave her a quick goodbye before taking a shortcut back home.

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

They had been worried. Beyond worried. Sans didn't make one joke and barely talked at all. Papyrus criticized her all the way home, while Sans trotted behind. Quiet. It was already late by the time they got back to Sans' and Papyrus' house again.

Frisky and her son were brought upstairs to go to bed, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she did something wrong. She had to become FRISK to neutralize the poison. She didn't know how long it would take before she lost control of herself after she saw him start to get sick, and she knew it was her chance to take care of Undyne. To make her understand, once and for all.

It was always a victory when she won over an enemy without fighting, but that radiant feeling was gone tonight. Sans was up first on watch and tonight he was just sitting on the couch. She had noticed lately that him and Papyrus were rubbing their necks a lot. In fact, Papyrus was rubbing the backs of his legs too because of the couch. _I scared them. I-I really worried them. It had to be done, but I never meant to hurt them. And look, because of this prisoner situation, they are still hurting each night for us._ _Their bones are not made to sleep on that couch._

Frisky wasn't her original size, she was small, and Frisk was even smaller. Even though it was Sans' bed, it was still bigger than the couch. She always curled up with Frisk in her arms anyhow. She'd done that since he was a baby, too scared any moment that he'd become a re-reset. Frisk had gotten comfy in his spot, almost already going to sleep. That was to be expected. "Sans?"

"Not really in the mood for a talk," Sans said quickly.

Great, that wasn't going to work. However, she remembered something. She moved over toward the other side of the bed and held out the Mercy sign toward him.

He groaned. "That's cheating." He rubbed the front of his skull. "You almost killed yourselves tonight."

"Frisk has a failsafe guarantee."

"Then you almost killed yourself tonight."

"Well, what did you want me to do?"

"Stay there where it was _safe_." Sans laid down on the couch. "Why can't you just listen?"

"I have to find my own way," she reminded him. "It's who I am."

He didn't answer right away. "If it had been Undyne, then I would have talked to her."

"You already did that once. Last I saw I'm still prisoner."

"No, Alphys did it last time. This time, I would have talked to her." He closed his eye sockets. "No one's out to poison you anymore. Guaranteed."

"I don't know. If I got the point across enough, then why didn't she free us?" Frisky didn't get that part. She could have sworn she heard Undyne say she freed them at the end, but Sans said she was just delusional and would have to wait until they confirmed it. "Maybe I'm rustier without six other soul soldiers. Everyone pulls their weight." None of the conversation made Sans happier though. She held the Mercy sign and wiggled it back and forth. "You promised."

"Just promise me you won't do anything like that again?" Sans demanded. "You're not immortal anymore. Even as FRISK, you couldn't take the heat."

Well, that was tricky. "I promise that I will think more before putting my life in peril." She had to add the last part.

"And jumping Chance either. Don't jump him," Sans warned her. "Promise me, unless multiple lives are at stake. And I mean multiple, that you won't do that to the kid no more."

"How many is multiple?"

"Unless it stops genocide with another conduit. Isn't that something to the phrasing your used to?" A little edge was still in his voice.

"Sorry. Okay." Frisky nodded. "I promise that as long as we are in the Underground, unless it is considered absolutely pertinent, I won't jump in him." _Although I want_ _to_ _add that that poison would have killed him if I didn't do that. But, he should know that already_ _and I refuse to argue._

"Good." She could almost feel the relief that came off of him. "From you, I bet that's the best I can expect. But you better keep it. Better get some rest too."

 _Best he can expect from me?_ Oh well. "About that." Frisky looked beside her. "You and Papyrus are always hurting yourselves on the couch. Why don't you sleep in the same bed with us? I know it's kind of a funny thing to ask but-" She didn't even finish her request before she saw him disappear off the couch and appear on the bed next to her. He didn't bother to use the blankets.

"Thanks, that was literally killing my bones night after night. No flesh cushioning you know." He laid his whole body down happily. It didn't take long before he was completely asleep.

Well that took the awkwardness out of it. She laid back down close to Frisk, only slightly touching Sans on the side.

* * *

Sans rested for half an hour, too comfortable to move much when he felt Chance's tiny hand next to his skeletal one. He looked over and saw Frisky flipped the other way. She often did that. Her hair was tussled around as she slept with no problems. The Mercy sign was still by her feet. It was the only time she looked off guard.

Frisky was always on guard. She had to be to make it down in the Underground. Figuring out how to dodge, when to dodge, when to avoid, when to help, and when to act. Traveling back and forth so many times.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out and touched her cheek. Soft. Too soft for the Underground. That softness shouldn't be allowed. A scaly, tough exterior was what she needed. At least some fur to stand the cold. Yet, she just kept marching on. Day after day.

He felt Chance's hand twitch again and looked back down. If Frisky woke up right now, she'd see it. A skeletal arm and hand, surrounded with the blue glowing magic around it, like a transparent skin. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them over him, so he had an excuse to cover his bony hands up. _I really, really don't have long._ _Even if he doesn't share it, he has no control over it._

Once his arm moved back to normal, Sans finally tried to get some rest again.

* * *

"No way, I refuse!" Frisky was getting dragged by the ball with San's own magic. "I refuse to have anything to do with you! What kind of father are you supposed to be?! You murdered my ship! You murdered my friends! You're going to have to drag me in kicking and screaming if you want this so bad!"

"Momma! Sans, why are you doing this?! Why are you hurting my mom? Why did you hurt everyone?! Why? What kind of dad are you supposed to be?!"

* * *

Sans found himself wide awake again, looking straight at Papyrus.

"Umm . . . Sans. Are you sweating?"

Sans teleported out of the bed. "I'm fine." He rubbed his skull.

Papyrus sighed. "That I'm fine sounds more like I'm anything but fine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sure. Frisky's inviting us to sleep next to them."

"Ehh." Papyrus looked at the couch to his bed. "I don't think it would be any more comfortable for me. I will take the couch."

Sans shrugged and headed away. He'd go sleep the rest of the night in Papyrus' bed, and by morning, he'd be off to . . . _I know I don't have long. Should I push another night? If I took Chance, I probably could._ _But why bother? I've got everything._ He just wanted one more selfish night where no one hated him. That dream was so vivid. It wasn't even of the committing. He had seen everyone there, all his friends. Him in a tux and Frisky was in a nice dress. Everyone else was dressed beautifully . . . like it wasn't a committing, but a marriage. Everyone smiled and waved and cheered, ignoring Frisky and Chance as they were viciously being pulled up by him to the altar. Screaming and blaming him for everything.

That was too much. That was just too much. It was bad enough to think about how bad a committing was going to go. If anything screwed up, if anyone squealed, how in the world would she ever want to be . . . be with him? Dragged down the aisle. _No, I can't think about that. That's not real. It'll be fine. Papyrus won't tell anyone._ _Toriel_ _won't tell anyone._ _Alphys_ _won't tell anyone._ _Undyne_ _won't either._ _None of them are going to go against me. No one else knows._ But night after night of this thinking wasn't going to do him any good. Should he take another night? Should he just get it over with while it was safe?

Because he was just lying there. Lying there for who knows how long. He fell asleep a couple of times, but he just had another nightmare again. The same kind. The same clothes. The same everything.

Trying to hold on. To just hold onto this time, it was like . . . like living the same time over again. Even if the future wouldn't be as bright, he couldn't just stop time. It couldn't reset. Life moved on now and . . . _did I just hear a laugh downstairs?_

* * *

Chance woke up later that night, looking at his mom. She was always hugging him. It was even easier now because he was miniature. He understood that part, but there was more to it than that. Someone wasn't telling him something. He was used to that, but there was something even bigger than the usual. His mini-size let him slowly wiggle away from his mom. It took a good twenty minutes though, too fast and she'd wake up. She had really fast reflexes.

Once he was down, he looked toward the couch. Papyrus was keeping watch right now, which made this next part easy because when Sans' brother slept, he **slept**. When Sans' slept, he was a super light sleeper. Papyrus didn't have that ability, and he watched them most of the night, so around 3 he finally fell into a really deep sleep, hunched over the couch.

Chance already knew from his books that the answer wasn't going to be textbook. He pointed to his ball. Having nothing better to do, he had practiced when Papyrus hadn't been looking. He did learn how to bring it up, just a tad. He could hold its position too, but he couldn't make it go very high. He concentrated and when it got off the floor about an inch, he floated it slowly towards the door. He pointed towards the door handle.

He'd never done two at once yet, but a handle was just a small scoot in a circular motion. He tried it and it was easy. Once the door was open, he drifted his ball away with him.

Now, there had to be an answer to this secret somewhere.

* * *

It took a little bit of searching, but he found something interesting. Books. There were books hiding behind a tiny bookshelf by curtains. Interesting books. There wasn't anything inside that told him what everyone was hiding, but they were still fascinating. All kinds of neat facts.

He was currently reading about the Underground's History. Magic made the fighting systems. He knew a little about it from the human side, but it was the Monster's source of magic that really blended the two together. Then there was information about Hotlands, the place that MK had told him about. Then there was some information about Snowdin, and he tried not to laugh when it said that 'a constant source of Monster magic and hope keeps the snow coming'. _This is so great! I never get to read so much. Look at everything that's out in there in the world. I want to see it all. I want to live each day through it all. I want to know what's going on with me. I never have control over myself, and now I've got stuff going on I can't even find an answer to. I never have control._

"You just had to do that, didn't you?"

 _Sans!_ He lost his concentration and his ball dropped to the floor. Sans grabbed it and him. _Busted._ "Sorry! I wasn't trying to escape or anything, I-"

"Wanted to read." Sans bent down and looked at the books. "Wanted to figure out what's happening to you. You'll be getting that answer soon enough. But, how about one bedtime story before I put you back to bed?"

A bedtime story? Sans carried him to Papyrus' room where he was supposed to be sleeping. Sans moved over toward the bookshelf and pulled out a different book. He brought him over to Papyrus's bed and sat him in his lap. "All about Monsters: Skeletons?"

"You're a good reader for a six-year-old human," Sans said as he ruffled his head. "How come?"

"I just am, but it doesn't really work like that with humans anymore. At least, not me and momma."

Sans opened the book. "What do you mean?"

"Hmm. If you unlock my ball and chain, I'll show you?" Chance asked. Sans took it off and Chance hopped off the bed. He moved across the room and closed his eyes. He pushed his hands in the air. Then flipped several times across the room. He walked back over to Sans. "My brain is like that." He held his hands up in the air and pinched it. "Even though souls come and go, my brain just seems to hold onto some stuff." He shrugged. "If I didn't, I couldn't read, do that, or-!"

He felt Sans pick him back up. "I think I get it," Sans said. "It's fine, no worries." Sans held the book up. "Guess you better live while you can. You want to read it?"

"I thought I was getting the bedtime story?"

"Well then, there's a **_c_** ** _hance_** you ** _read_** the situation wrong."

Chance couldn't help it as he smiled. Sans was cool. He liked to make puns like his mom, but it was genuine, not because he was trying to keep him in good spirits so his chances of his sanity staying intact was greater. He'd heard all kinds of jokes in his life off of albums and stuff too. Standard for conduit rooms.

But Sans' stuff, it wasn't really the stuff he said. It was _how_ he said it. Someone couldn't help but smile, no matter what the joke was. He took turns reading with Sans and learned so much. He learned that Skeletons were closer to people than he thought. In fact, they kind of were people. They could have ears or hearts. They could even fully manifest themselves as a person. That explained why there were so many Skeletons that actually escaped capture all those thousands of years ago.

Skeletons had to use a certain degree of magic to physically make any of it appear, so they only used it for hearing and other basic functions like seeing. In fact, they had the power to even get rid of their own bones, but that was suicide, because without bones, they no longer existed, and could not manifest themselves back. They were either some sort of invisible spirit for the rest of their lives, or they died. No one knew. Chilling.

"So . . . you get stuff when you really need it. Like, visualize it? Or . . ." Chance moved closer to the book, looking at the picture. "Or when you instinctively want something? It doesn't use any magic if it's something you really need?"

"Yep. Doesn't happen very often. Mostly cravings. It usually takes not getting a really good burger after a week of the same homemade food."

Homemade food was Sans way of saying Papyrus' spaghetti every single night for a week. "How come you still have your tongue? You've eaten different stuff by now, right?"

"I don't know. It'll eventually go." Sans chuckled. "Maybe it's waiting for cake with catsup frosting."

"Oh, momma's cake was good. I miss it."

"Okay, thinking about that this late at night isn't good. Just, you got the basics though, right?"

"Yep."

"Good. And . . . without the physical, it doesn't mean you _can't._ You need to remember that. Real important."

Why was that real important?

"It's . . . with a Skeleton, it's just a little different. You've got to just keep exploring for a new way to feel and see. Just, like magic, you know? You don't physically see, but you _magically_ see." Sans put his ball and chain back on and put him back in his room. It was up to him to sneak into his mom's arms as Sans closed the door and went back to bed.

Wriggling out was easier than wriggling in. Before he even made it back on the bed, his mother opened her eye and looked at him suspiciously. _Oh, she is going to figure it out._ "Frisk? What are you doing by the bed?" She picked him up and placed him back into bed. "It's not going to do any good to try and escape. These balls are a lot denser than they look, okay? You can't move far. Just, get some rest."

* * *

Sans laid on Papyrus' bed, staring up. _I didn't even know he had some slight_ _magic to control_ _, and now h_ _e_ _can already pick up his ball_ _and chain?!_ _Couldn't I get a little break? One, tiny, measly break?_

He tried to close his eye sockets, block out reality just a bit, but it wasn't going to work. He reached for his cell with the intentions of two important phone calls: Alphys and Undyne.

It was time to get it done before any other Monster knew about Chance's magic.


	22. Please Call Him Frisk

Frisky opened her eyes when she felt something happening to her leg. Papyrus was undoing the shackles? "What's going on?"

Frisk was getting his own shackle taken off too.

"You were right last night. It was unbelievable to us, but it did happen. You convinced Undyne," Papyrus said. "You're free!"

"Uh, hi?" Alphys was by the door. "Hey, Frisky."

Alphys was there too? She moved out of the bed with Chance.

"I worked out almost everything for the transporter." Alphys smiled nervously. "I wanted to surprise you."

"That's wonderful." Not shocking, Alphys was a shy Monster but so smart. It looks like she figured out the technology after all.

"A couple of kinks, but it's almost ready. Then, you'll be back to your full size this time," Alphys promised. She looked strangely toward Sans and Papyrus. "Sans said there was a second way, but it wouldn't fix your size? So, you'd rather wait, right?"

Yeah, by the Ruins. "I think we can wait for a few kinks," Frisky agreed. "Would it still be today?"

"Yes. An hour so. Maybe three or four, tops?" Alphys laughed nervously. "Um, so, I . . . wanted to hang out. Enjoy some Hotlands? An MTT burger? Is that okay?"

"Oh. Oh, the dinosaur lady!" Chance pulled on her harder. "Mom, the dinosaur lady! You promised!"

 _Oh yeah._ They did have a conversation about that recently last time they had some private time. Still, something wasn't clinking right. "Well, we aren't exactly the same anymore. Getting that close to Hotlands isn't an option."

"Oh, I know! I made this for you two." Alphys pulled out a cream for her pocket. "Just keep replenishing it when your skin feels bad. Once we get into the lab, you should feel just fine. The kids haven't had a problem so far."

"Hm?"

"Oh? Oh! I mean, um. My . . . you! I mean you didn't have a problem. I mean you wouldn't have had a problem." Alphys wasn't acting right at all. "I mean, I have had kids in the past visit. Um, relation? Not my own, of course, you know, relation."

"Okay." _That's right, that is what was bugging me. I never met_ _Alphys_ _in this timeline._ Sans had taken her before they met, yet, Alphys still seemed to know her. She was watching the cameras. Well, and Sans had to have shared a lot to get Alphys to work on the teleporter. _Still, something is very wrong. It's obvious._ Then again, Alphys would never seriously hurt her. The only time she did put her in peril, Alphys was always in control. Well, until Mettaton. But, Frisk was staring her down. "I guess. I suppose you are ready, huh?"

"Yes!" Frisk pulled his arm backward in victory. "I can finally meet him."

"Uh?" Alphys shrugged. "I'm the only one there? What's he talking about?"

"The lower levels," Frisky added.

"I still don't understand," Alphys asked again.

"My dad is down there," her son answered.

Sans, Papyrus and Alphys all shared a look at the same time. That wasn't surprising.

"Well, what's left of them," her son added. "I just . . . want to see."

"I'll explain when we get there?" Frisky offered.

"Uhhh . . . kay?" Alphys looked back towards Sans and Papyrus. "Then, are you ready?"

"Alright, I am going to see Hotlands!" Chance darted out the room, with Frisky on his tail.

"Uhh . . ." Alphys looked back toward Sans. "Uh?"

Sans shared a look with Papyrus. "I don't know." He closed his eye sockets. "Probably lied to them. Nothing else new. Just, entertain them. Ready, Papyrus?"

"Got it. I will head out in just a sec for all the materials. You?"

"Got the papers, getting Undyne, and then heading to King Asgore's. Alphys, don't forget to keep your cell on," Sans warned her. "When I tell King Asgore, I am going to need the transparency taken off."

"Yep, and um, there's something else? Chara is apparently, um, is extremely active. Extremely," Alphys said again. "As in she can go anywhere in the Underground now. She can't touch, you know? But everyone can see and hear her now."

Whoah. "That's some power."

"Yep. Uh, and apparently the human's barriers may have had a little more inside too? Like, she can use . . . lasers? But, she hasn't done anything but. Just something to keep in mind."

"As long as she doesn't get too rambunctious."

"And, um, and . . . apparently we can never, ever bring the barrier down. She said not even a second," Alphys warned him. "She was really adamant about it. She said that they are already watching it and looking for weaknesses above."

"Of course, but they aren't gonna find it. Not with DETERMINATION behind it," Sans said. "Chance is a dangerous weapon. You haven't seen what he can do, and that was without magic. No one's getting him, no matter what. Better get going. Frisky's bound to have caught the kid by now. Probably waiting on you."

"Right. No time to lose."

* * *

 **The Lab**

"Do you know which one it is?" Chance asked as he jumped up to try and push the buttons. He was a little too short now, so Alphys pushed it, knowing the floor they wanted.

"Not exactly. I think, a combination," Frisky answered him. She looked toward Alphys. "I know what you're thinking, but he's always wanted to see where he came from."

"Y-yeah. Um." Alphys watched the doors open as they approached. Chance darted forward to the rarely seen Gaster experiment. "All conduits come from . . . these?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Frisky confessed. "Thousands of years ago they were secretly dragged to the surface. Experimented on." She closed her eyes. "There was more to them than what you see now, and humanity was scared Gaster would unlock the truth. Of course, once humanity gets it's hands on something . . . experimentation always happens and the re-resets and conduits were created. Mankind never knows when to stop." She sighed and looked toward her son as the creature told him about Gaster. "Bits and pieces, here and there. That's all that's left. It keeps a conduit safe though because they aren't technically Monsters."

"Oh. Uh." Alphys darted her eyes to the left. "That's. All of them?"

"Mmhm."

"Never . . . thought Chance was maybe a little more special?"

"Alphys." Frisky looked straight toward her. "I know that everyone has taken to calling Frisk something different but me. There's a reason though, and . . ." She bit her lip. "I would _really_ appreciate it if you stopped that. Please?"

"Why?" Alphys pried.

 **"Because she's going to get struck** **for every time someone used a different name than instructed down here,"** Chara's voice whispered in the air.

"What?!"

"Um?" Frisky stood up straight. "I would just really appreciate it if you would continue to call him Frisk. If you would like to call him something else, he can also be called 95451. That is his legal authentic identity while Frisk is his mission name."

"Um. Sans never said-"

"It made Frisk happy, and Sans wouldn't listen anyway." Frisky met her eyes. "He made it clear he didn't want to follow rules. Just, please? Will you please follow rules?"

"Every offense?"

"What?" Frisky moved slightly away from her. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Is . . ." Alphys cleared her throat. "Is it really worth leaving the Underground for that other world? It doesn't sound good, Frisky."

"Good has nothing to do with it. I don't belong here, hence, I could never stay. I am only here on my mission orders," Frisky reminded her. "Besides, after some . . . additional mission mishaps are corrected, we will be freed." She smiled. "Free to live and pursue a normal civilian life."

 **"She means when they've whipped her butt a thousand times for screwing with Itty** **Bitty's** **name and any other offenses they didn't think were required. They can't hear me though, so I can get away with it.** **Still, it's** **waaaaay** **better than what would have happened if she had failed without that little emergency that popped up.** **"**

"What would have happened if you failed without a little emergency?" Alphys asked her. Frisky stiffed up completely.

"None of that matters," Frisky said quickly. "Please stop being so intrusive."

 **"Yeah. Even I don't want to go into the details of that one."**

Alphys eyes shot open. Chara had no problem saying anything. Frisky couldn't even hear her whispering in her ear. So, oh. It had to have been very terrible. Very, very terrible if Chara wouldn't go into it deeply. "Don't need really fine details. Just, general?"

"Please stop being intrusive," Frisky answered back.

"Frisky?"

"What?!" For a moment, Frisky had an outburst. She stood straight up, taking her soldier position again. "Forgive me for my outburst. Once 95451 is done, we can continue on with the departure of Underground."

"O-okay!" Alphys held her hands up. The more she pushed, the more Frisky started going into soldier mode. "I'm sorry. Forget I said anything at all." She still watched Frisky though. Her soldier instinct completely took over. _Maybe . . . maybe a commitment with Sans and Papyrus_ _won't actually go as bad as we all think after all? Maybe. Maybe it doesn't even need to be hostile._ "Just a quick question. Completely hypothetical. But, let's say that for some reason, Undyne had never let you go. And you had to stay in Snowdin for the rest of your life. Pretty much. I mean, what would you have done? Would it . . . would you have thought it to be bad?"

Frisky gave her an odd look. "Alphys, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just, you know. Just curious. Scientific brain, never stops working. Sorry, forget I said anything." Alphys looked around her. Tried to hear any whisper on the wind. Chara really wasn't going to talk at all. Or she was watching the human kids for her very intently, but there almost was no reason to. They never got into anything. They never did anything and seemed overjoyed with the few toys she could afford. They were clearly raised to be very, very obedient.

If only she could feel comfortable enough letting Undyne meet them. Then, maybe Undyne could babysit sometime. Or, maybe they could watch them together.

Frisk had stayed with the experiments for some time, going from room to room, and trying to get them to say something different, or to touch them without them disappearing. But, it didn't work. Finally, the little boy gave up. Frisk sighed as he walked up to his mom. "Okay. I guess, I met him. Technically."

"As technical as you can get," Frisky said coming over toward him. "It's alright. We are always happy as two. Aren't we?"

"Yeah." He smiled at his mom and grabbed her hand. "You should tell Conner that more. He's such a jerk."

"Uh, well?" Conner was a complete jerk, but there were far worse things. "Are you ready?"

"Will they reappear again?"

"On and off."

"Okay. I guess . . ." He shrugged. "I'm done."

"Hey, I know? When we get back on the ship, why don't I buy you a great, big, gigantic sundae?" Frisky said as she bent down toward him. "With a cherry?"

"And cream?"

"And cream. And nuts. And chocolate chips." She tugged on his sweater a little. "You'll feel better when you have something that fits too."

"Are we going to have sandwiches for supper then?" he groaned. "Can we have maybe . . . enchiladas?"

"Hmm. Maybe. We'll see, okay? Haven't been back in at least a few months. I need to do a lot of ordering. But, we can get that on the list, okay?" Still, he didn't look very happy. "I'm sorry that your biological father is . . . not really there. I've told you many times, but I knew you wanted to see for yourself one day. This was as safe as it was going to get for you."

Frisk was quiet. "I . . . I still want to stay with Sans and Papyrus though."

 _Oh, not this again._ She tried to muster her best smile. "Frisk. You made me a promise."

Frisk groaned. "I know. A PACIFIST doesn't break promises." He kicked the ground. "I won't throw a fit."

"And we are going to be free too. That extra battle, an emergency battle is worth more than you know." She ruffled his head. "Come on. Let's go home."

"A promise?" Alphys asked. "What promise was that?"

"Oh, nothing big." Frisky held her son's hand as they all went back to the elevator. "Frisk was getting _very_ attached to the Underground, so, I promised if he was a good boy when we had to leave that I would let him see what biologically made him."

Then, Alphys felt her phone vibrate. She checked it and saw Sans message. He was ready to talk. "Oh. Okay. Can you give me just a few seconds to check on something too? Five minutes, tops. Just don't move?"

Frisky nodded. "We'll try not to move."

Alphys snuck over farther to a corner, away from view before she called. "Um. I guess all conduits and re-resets are derived of the Gaster experiments."

"Well. Humanity should have known better than to mess with that. It was their own fault."

"Yeah, it really serves them right," Alphys agreed with Sans. "Um. Uh, except should I keep talking like that when I became friends with one? At least, okay, not all of them are evil. But, for the most of the rest, serves them right. So, are we ready?"

"Almost. Waiting on you. You're getting your own today too, right?"

"Yep. Especially now. Okay. Uh, Sans? There's something . . . Uh. N-nevermind. I'll bring them to your area and I'll treat them to a burger like a-a last time kind of thing." Alphys hung up and headed back to the elevator near them. "Okay, so, Grillby's now?" She almost swore she saw a bit of resentment in Frisky for that. "Or not? A glamburger?"

"Grillby's!" the boy said happily. "I still have to say bye to Sans and Papyrus and MK! But, I won't . . . make a fuss." He bit his lip. "I'll try to keep my promise. I promise." He held up his hand. "A PACIFIST always keeps a promise."

* * *

 **Grillbys**

This. Was. Weird. Frisky looked around herself. Everyone was staring at her again, but differently this time. They were being . . . welcomed. All around town, instead of just getting a polite smile at most, they were truly being greeted. Now that they were inside Grillby's, the welcoming atmosphere became even stronger.

"Hello!"

"Hey there, welcome to Snowdin."

Alphys wasn't meeting her gaze. "Alphys? Are the kinks worked out yet?" Frisky asked. She looked down and saw a Monster slap Frisk in a playful manner on his hand. "Why is everyone being so nice? Extra nice?"

"Oh, um, just a minute." Alphys answered her phone. "Oh, hey, Sans. We are . . . just going over by the bustling place in your town, Grillby's. Um, and people are kind of greeting Frisk a lot. Oh. Oh, yeah, news travels fast it seems." She looked over toward Frisky and spoke to her. "I'm going outside just a few minutes. Promise, almost ready to go, okay?"

 _What news?_ Okay, Frisky was used to being in the dark. Sometimes. But, this was getting ridiculous. The entire town seemed to know a secret that Alphys was trying to keep covered up. She was doubting more and more that she was going home. _Why can't I go home?_ Before she could even consider the possibilities though, she jerked her head straight as well as Frisk's.

No. They never came down. Ever. How? Why? She held her breath. _A_ _B_ _alancer._

"That's . . . disgusting," she heard one of the locals say as they approached him. Frisky glanced out of the corner of her eye. He was carrying a human head. _How in the-?!_

"Hey. What's up with this place?" The monster asked as he sat down next to Frisky. He slammed the human head on the counter. "Hmm. Two choices, that's it? Fine, I guess fries?"

Grillby was usually quick, but it took a matter of seconds for the fries to be scooted toward him.

"Hey," a Monster spoke up to him. "I've never seen you in Snowdin before."

"Huh? What the hell is a Snowdin?"

"Ugh." One of the Monsters complained to him.

"Hm. You."

Frisky didn't move her head, just her eyes. Nothing to entice him.

"Hmmm." He breathed in her hair. "You're human but short. _Real_ short. Little unique. Little cute."

Frisky nodded, acknowledging him, knowing she would be in more trouble just ignoring him.

"Is that your young?"

"Yes." She moved Frisk's head to stare straight forward again. "May I be of any assistance to you, Sir?"

"Hm. Why would a mother be _stupid_ enough to bring her young out?" Frisky watched his hand almost touch the top of Frisk's head. "Small bones, tender meat. You're lucky I already ate. If you care for it, you better keep it indoors from now on."

"Yes, Sir," she answered back quickly. "Thank you for your extreme graciousness, Sir." _Screw_ _Alphys_ _, I have to get out of here._ _Now._ She moved away from her chair, making sure Frisk was not facing him as they moved up. _How is a Balancer here? How? How?!_

"Hang on, there." The monster grabbed her arm. "I didn't say you could leave little cutie. I just said I wasn't hungry. Sit back down."

Frisky moved into the seat the same way, making sure Frisk's face was forward. "Of course, how rude of me. I am sorry, I am a very stupid human."

"Yeah, I know, you things can't help your stupidity. Hm." He popped a fry in his mouth. "Still can't believe this. Never met a human stupid enough to put their young out here, in the open, on their own freaking lap." He reached toward Frisk's head. "I'm not hungry, but, I could still kill it. What would you do to keep me from snapping its neck?"

"Hey, d-don't talk like that to her!" A local Monster moved on the other side of Frisky. "You can't talk to others like that."

"Hey," another local Monster said, coming over by the other one. "I agree. You can't talk like that. Monsters shouldn't kill each other."

"What do you mean?" The Balancer stood up. "I don't get this. I go to work this way every day. Never even seen this place, and you're all starting to freak me the hell out." He pushed a card toward Grillby, not understanding the GOLD system.

Grillby just held his hand up and passed the card back.

Frisky took a deep breath while the Monsters patted her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"Um, so, really close. I have to leave though with Papyrus for something. I'll be right back in an hour or so?" Alphys said as she came back in, but Frisky had had enough. "Frisky? Where are you going?"

There was a Balancer and she could have lost her son. This was not _**safe**_. "I am going to the Inn," Frisky insisted, "and I will not leave it until we are absolutely ready. A Balancer almost killed Frisk, and I refuse to let that happen again. I will not come out until it is time to go." She picked up Frisk, got up and headed out.

"Oh, really? I'm so sorry. Uh, here." Alphys handed her a spare cellphone. "Here, just in case then. I promise, it won't be long. Okay?" Frisky accepted it with a sigh and continued on her way.

Walking towards the Inn though, Frisk started to moan in her arms. "Hm?" She looked toward him and felt his head. "Oh no, you're burning up." _I better go back toward the Ruins_ _._ _Sans or_ _Undyne_ _has my MP, but it should sense I'm human after awhile._ "Don't worry, Frisk," she said trying to comfort him. "In a few minutes, we'll get you some medicine."

"Momma, where are you?"

"Hm?"


	23. A Flower Feels

**Author's Note: Flowey's memories, so it's not too confusing. Flowey remembers all timelines, while Sans and Frisk only remember the parts of FRISK timeline. When she was FRISK. However, humans have been manipulating the Underground for a lot, lot longer. Also, to avoid confusion, Frisky=Faith. Frisky is just her mission name.**

* * *

The good news is that the pain in his stomach and eyes and head had all started to go away, but Chance couldn't seem to see anymore. He kept opening his eyes, but he couldn't see. What happened? "Momma, where are you?"

"What do you mean, Frisk?"

"I can't see you." He could feel himself in his mom's arms, but he couldn't see her. Nothing. No light at all. The whole world was dark. He kept blinking his eyes. "Mom, I can't see. I-I can't see!"

"It's okay. Frisk? Hon'?"

"Momma?" He felt around for her. He could feel her face, but he couldn't see. "Momma! Momma!"

"I-it's okay, it's okay. I'll find some help, okay?" After a few minutes of walking though, things started to get worse. Frisk felt numb. "Momma?"

"Huh?"

"I feel numb. I can barely feel you."

"What about now?"

"Momma?"

"I'm holding your hand, sweetie. Do you feel that?"

Holding his hand? No. "Momma, I can't feel you holding my hand. I can't. I can't feel my hand. I can't even feel my hand! Momma? Momma?!"

Nothing. "Momma?! Momma?!" He tried to kick and scream with all he had. He couldn't feel his mom. He couldn't hear her. He couldn't see! "Momma, help! Mommy! Momma?! Mooooooommm!"

* * *

 **The Castle . . .**

"What a stupendously glorious day it is," King Asgore insisted as he looked at the small crowd around him. Sans just kept a level face. He figured the king would be a little thrilled with, you know, the sky. He and Alphys gave him most of the details, but was sure to leave out a couple of important bits. King Asgore had had a long and heartfelt speech along with Mettaton on TV about the situation, and everyone was basically dancing around.

Except them. Which made it a little tough to gather the last bits. But, it was almost done.

"Don't fret, Brother," Papyrus insisted. "Something tells me that Frisky will . . . w-will not hate us as much as you think. They'll _have_ to live somewhere, and with her being human, I mean, no one would give her a job."

"I know." Sans sentences were short and to the point.

"And so, let's see." Asgore looked at his desk. "Two committings today, and it makes absolute sense why. Bless your heart Alphys for helping the little conduits."

That was something else. Since the conduits were part of the experiment, and treated badly by the humans as well, Asgore was not considering them human. They were considered a 'different Monster'. Conduits. At least that would mean less scorn for them.

"Okay, let's get you taken care of."

"Oh, me first?" Alphys asked as she looked toward Sans. "Aren't you ready?"

"You said Frisky's staying at the Inn because of some kind of Balancer thing?" Sans said. He didn't know. The transparency of the barrier was just released. "It's fine. Papyrus is still trying to get the last part." He shrugged. "The sky coming out is making regular business run a little less smooth."

"Okay." Alphys gestured for her two conduits to come forth toward Asgore. "Already signed and completed by Undyne the Undying."

"Correct, King Asgore," Undyne said, although her voice sounded a little less enthused than usual with Alphys. "She's got all the necessary furniture, GOLD, shelter, and she can follow the humans dietary needs so it's chances of death are lower. She's taken care of the environment factors by vouching they won't leave without her, and she's got a special cream that keeps them from getting too warm."

"Good, good. Sounds proper." King Asgore hummed as he took the paper. "You want to be the children's . . . Aunt?"

"Yes, uh, I think mom's kind of . . . out of my league. Right now. Um . . ." Alphys fidgeted. "But I'll take care of them really well. And, it's nice to have someone around with me. Maybe I can even train them when they get older?"

"Oh, you don't need any bonus credit like that, Alphys, you're my Royal Scientist. I just have to meet and look at the children. It's mandatory."

Alphys moved her two children up. "I haven't picked names yet, but I will get on it. Undyne is putting in filler names for now?"

"Yes, completely understand. Hello?" King Asgore addressed them. "Do you both speak Monster?"

They nodded their heads.

"Do you want to live with your 'Aunt Alphys'?"

They nodded their heads again.

"How old are you?"

"Seven," they both said at the same time, still staying very straight like soldiers.

"And I'm already buying them several toys and trying to interact to try and . . . I don't know the right word but . . . deprogram them?" She tried.

"Yes, I see. It's alright, I think they'll be fine. It just takes time." King Asgore winked at them and signed her paper. "There, it's official. You are now 'Aunt Alphys' and you can take care of the children. No Monster can come and take them, you have the right in encounters to step in and take their place or help them without any kind of strike being noted against it. And, in the unfortunate case of murder, you have the right for just desserts if you come and see me. Meaning, of course, you have the right to pursue a kill vengeance on who killed them and no one in their family can come after you or claim anything against you through legal means."

"Thanks, King Asgore." Alphys took her papers.

"Next?"

"That would be me," Sans piped up. "Just . . . waiting a bit." He looked toward the door. "Come on, Papyrus," he muttered.

"I did an examination of the premises. It's fine," Undyne started anyway, getting them into the swing of things at least. "Proper bedding was added, proper dietician was fixed, and salaries and hours were upped and raised. They each are learning about human culture, survival, and . . ." She looked at her notes. "Ah." She whispered over toward him. "Sans the Skeleton is an emergency Royal Guard now. Papyrus the Skeleton is in training."

"Oh. Well, that's good." King Asgore took her papers.

"We have most of the clothes requirements," Sans insisted. "We even have shoes, socks, and coats. We are just waiting on a few sweaters, that's it."

"Okay. Hmm." King Asgore looked over all the notes. "So you're committing a conduit and it's . . . human mother?"

Sans shrugged and chuckled. "We took them as prisoners, but they've been good. We don't want to see them hurt, and with everything that happened. We wanted to make sure the kid was taken care of."

"Oh yes, the human isn't going to be able to take care of itself or it's young, so that would make sense. That is truly a decent thing of you two, not every Monster would do that."

"The mom might not be real pleased about it," Sans warned him. "If she says anything bad during her time to get this done, I apologize."

"No, it's completely understandable. Just make sure you keep a close eye on her. Humans are not very welcomed. They have never been very welcomed, but now. Hmm. Well, let's just wait for this last item."

"I am here, Brother!" Papyrus shouted as he took a shortcut right near Sans. "This is the last of the custom wear for the papers!" He groaned and looked toward Sans. "Getting the Temmie's back in gear wasn't easy. They were all shouting 'look at the sky, Temmie!,' it was very tough."

"But, it's here." Almost done.

"Great. Just set them down anywhere. The last thing I need is the woman and child. Oh, and what are you going to be considered?" King Asgore asked.

"I will go with brother for the woman, Frisky, and Uncle for the boy, Chance," Papyrus finished.

Sans was about to speak before feeling Alphys pull on the side of his coat.

"Ummm . . . uhh . . ." She got closer to his skull but it was apparent something was wrong. "I'm sorry, the messaging all over the place! I didn't see it because I was first, but it's not good!" She handed Sans her cell phone. "Listen!"

Sans listened to the messages one by one from Frisky, and as the words went by his emotions went with them. By the end of the whole tirade, he knew where he stood.

"Something's wrong with Frisk. I am going to get some medicine and I will be back." There was a beep between, signaling the next message. "Alphys, I don't think medicine will work. Something is wrong." Another beep. "Alphys, Frisk can't see? Alphys, please me somewhere in whatever your hiding from me that this has something to do with it?" Another beep. "Alphys, please answer ASAP! Frisk has gone numb, he can't feel my hand! Alphys, damn it, answer me! He won't screaming. I am going back to the Inn, I don't know what else to do. If there is still a balancer down here, it will hear him and try to eat him." Another beep. "Alphys, he isn't screaming but I don't feel any better. I think he's dying. He won't answer back. Please? Frisk is cold. Unresponsive. He has a pulse, but I think he's . . . Alphys." One more beep. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please."

So close. They had been so close.

"Brother?" Papyrus spoke up. "What do you want them to call you?"

Sans handed the phone back. "We ran out of time." He looked toward Papyrus. "He's changing."

"Who's changing?" King Asgore asked.

Undyne looked away briefly and Alphys took her phone back.

"I shouldn't have muted it," Alphys apologized. "I'm sorry. Big day, I . . ."

"Changing? Already?" Papyrus gestured for Alphys phone in a hurry and started to hear it himself. "Oh. I see." No one spoke.

King Asgore finally pried with a whisper to Undyne. "Undyne? What's going on?"

Undyne looked toward them. "So, is this a committing or . . . something else?"

Alphys took her phone back from Papyrus and brought it to Undyne.

"Just . . . we just needed a tiny bit longer . . ." Papyrus sounded like he was in complete despair. "This was hard enough."

"It's alright, bro." Sans patted his back. "No biggie. They wouldn't like it either way. Let's just get this set up a little different now, and we'll go check on the kid. No prob. No big deal. We were prepared. Right. It's cool."

"I'll go check on him," Papyrus insisted. "It's the least I can do for being late with the Temmies."

"Don't feel bad, Pap. It wasn't your fault."

"I should have rushed them even faster!" Papyrus stomped his foot. "No. I'll take care of it! The human can't, and we can't dawdle. Did you bring that emergency suit of yours?"

"Yep." Very short. Very to the point.

"Okay, um. Undyne?" Papyrus called to her while she was looking at the phone. "We're going to have to switch this, but I'll be back."

* * *

Frisky walked back and forth in the Snowed Inn room. She had stopped by Sans and Papyrus' but the door was locked. She called Alphys for advice, knowing that her genius must know what was going on. Alphys said she'd be over soon, but it had already been way too long and she wasn't responding to her phone calls. Which didn't make sense, Alphys always responded.

Frisky just rocked back and forth on the bed, trying to soothe him as he screamed, calling for her. "I'm here," she said over and over. "I'm right here, I swear, Frisk." What was wrong? But then, his screaming stopped, making her more frantic than ever. "Frisk? Honey? Sweetie?" No, no, no. She didn't even care about the punishment anymore. "Chance, honey, please say something!"

A scream, a cry, a moan, anything. She kept the bed's blanket over him as his body grew cold. She watched him, but he was unresponsive. If it weren't for his pulse, she would be afraid he died. "Please. Please don't leave me. Please." Frisky couldn't help as her tears fell all over him. She was constantly redialing and leaving messages for Alphys. Where was she? Where was she?!

"S-so . . . uhh . . ."

"Papyrus?!" Frisky got up from the bed and ran over to him. "Please, please help! I-I can't figure out what's wrong with him! H-he's still got a heartbeat but only barely and-"

Papyrus tried to shoosh her. "It's okay, he's okay. Let me see him." She handed him to Papyrus. "Okay." He patted his back as he tried to pat her too. "It's okay, he's not dying. He'll be fine."

"His skin is so cold. I-I don't even know how he still has a pulse. I-I'm scared, Papyrus. Please help him?!"

* * *

"Uuhh . . ." Papyrus looked at Chance. He wasn't doing so well with the change. He looked practically gone, like he had just been dusted, without the dusting. He didn't look alive at all. Frisky wasn't fairing much better. Ever since he knew her, she had always been in such good control. For the first time, she didn't look like she had control of the situation at all.

Sans should have been here instead, but, his brother was going through his own thing too, and this was a rather simple matter. It's just that they were so close. Sooo close with getting away with it. No one would have known until after the fact. They could have all just been fairly agreeable roommates for life! And now?

From the words on the phone to how Chance looked now, time was up. Even if they tried to, there was no way King Asgore would let it go through with Chance sick, and he wouldn't get better until . . . until he was a Skeleton. Which meant . . .

Papyrus sighed. _Come on. Hello, there? Hey? Um, it's_ _The Great_ _Papyrus_ _!_ _Come on, use some of that skill. Sans said you had a lot of skill. You were even using your magic really well, so just reach out that way. Please?_ Still nothing. _Really, really. It's me, Papyrus! Don't make me get Sans to do this, he's um, having his own problems right now. Come on, a spark. A little spark anywhere? Hello?_

Frisky was staring at him still. "What's wrong with him? Do you know? Is . . . is he?"

"He's, um." This wasn't good. Chance wasn't even trying to reach him. Papyrus just tried to smile at Frisky. This wasn't normal. Chance wasn't just taking the change slightly bad. If he couldn't reach out to him soon, there was no telling what would happen.

Skeletons were Skeletons. They were born Monsters, understanding magic. Chance was human and only recently learned magic.

A human moving into Monster form had never happened before to his knowledge. _Oh no. No, no, we took this too lightly_ _!_ Papyrus placed his skull next to Chance's head. Maybe he needed something stimulating to shock him into communicating? _Um. If you can he_ _ar_ _me_ _then_ _you should know that I am actually your Uncle Papyrus._ He wanted to save that reveal for Sans, but he was starting to feel his own sort of desperation. _I'm your Uncle Papyrus. Sans is actually your dad! If you just snap out of this, then, you're going to live with us forever. No more people jumping in you! Safe and warm, cozy in_ _Snowdin_ _? You always like_ _d_ _Snowdin_ _, right? So, please?_ _Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh_ _! Come on!_ _Pleeeeeeaasse_ _?!_ Nothing. Nothing, no response at all.

Desperation was setting in more. What was he supposed to do?! _Please, please snap out of this? You are worrying your mother. She thinks you're dying. So. Let's not . . . die? Dying's not good. It's really not, it's much better to live. So, live. Live, please!_

He felt Frisky's hand on his bony arm. He looked around himself and saw his magic surrounding himself and Chance. He was putting **everything** he could into trying to communicate and he wasn't getting anywhere. If Chance didn't learn how to reach out, if he didn't learn how to settle down and use his own magic before his pulsing heart stopped, then the transformation would never complete. It would be like a bird jumping out of a nest and dying from the fall because it didn't learn how to fly. "I have to get Sans." He gave Chance back. "I'll be right back, I promise. Just don't jump in, whatever you do."

"I can't. I tried that a long time ago to try and help him," she said. "I-I can't do anything. I can't do anything!"

"I'll be right back. Right backy back, right back!"

* * *

Flowey watched through the stained windows of the castle. _I don't care. I don't care. What am I doing here? What is happening to me?_ He looked up toward the sky. It was nice to see it. _I don't care. I don't want to care. I don't want to care._ Because caring equaled heartbreak. He didn't want heartbreak. He didn't need heartbreak. _I don't care._ He watched Sans as he tried to tie a black bow tie around his neckbone. All in a white suit, with a little black bow tie. A familiar sight, but his expression wasn't the same. He looked like he was going to a final battle that he couldn't win. He looked like he was hopelessly trying to fight FRISK again. Downtrodden and just going with the motions.

That's . . . not how it was before . . .

* * *

 **Flowey's Memories . . .**

 _"I can't get this dang thing," Sans said. "A little help?"_

 _"Absolutely!" Papyrus was thrilled as he came over and tied his bowtie. "So, how are you doing?"_

 _"I can't tie a bowtie. Good thing this isn't a prerequisite," Sans chuckled. "Of course, after **surveying** the situation, I don't think it's that bad." He moved around the corner, and yanked someone straight over to him. "I had **Faith** you'd show up." _

_"No, no, not the puns on your wedding day!" Papyrus groaned as he rushed over to them. "Faith, you really need to make it clear to him not to get too punny. He gets really punny when he's happy, and this is . . . well, probably the happiest day of his life and-Ooh! Oh no, the refreshments! I haven't poured the refreshments yet!"_

 _"Chill, bro. We'll be fine. Gaster and the others aren't even here yet," Sans insisted. "It's early. Relax. Boy, I thought I would be bad getting dragged around by my **ball and chain** today."_

 _Faith sighed. "You know . . ." She rubbed her shoulders. "I still feel bad about this?"_

 _"Oh not this again." Sans patted her shoulder. "Don't worry so much. It's not the same as in your world, okay? If I didn't believe you weren't right . . ." He pulled her closer. "I never would have gave my **Faith** a **Chance**." _

_"But this is so risky," Faith insisted. "Sans, really. I . . . not many humans have really been born down in the Underground. To my knowledge, no human or Monster has ever even been married down here."_

 _"Never cared much about rules, why start now?" He insisted. "Come on, let's go help Papyrus with the refreshments before he blows a fuse. I know he's the **Best Man** for the job, but even they need a little help." _

_"Uh, yeah. But . . ." She gripped onto the bottom of his tux. "I just, this isn't allowed. Why am I allowed?" She bit her lip. "They seemed very happy. Very, very happy about it."_

 _"That's a bad thing?" Sans groaned as he spun her around once. "Have some faith, Faith. I know he wasn't planned, but Chance isn't going to be a bad thing. Seriously, another Monster Underground is always a great thing." He came over and pretended to knock on her tummy. "No one can answer, but I know someone's there." He stood back up. "Not hard for anyone to miss my **Mrs**. You're getting really round these days. Oh, and hey? Queen Toriel wanted to have a word with you. I think she wants to talk about our kid playing with Princess Chara or something. Human bonding."_

 _"Yes." Faith gulped and cleared her throat. "That'd probably be fine. But . . ."_

 _"What's up?"_

 _"Well, it's that flower again . . ."_

* * *

 _I don't care. I don't care. I can't do anything anyhow! He doesn't remember, no one remembers! No one ever remembers!_ Flowey shouted to himself. _I gave Smiley_ _Trashbag_ _plenty of hints. It's been sitting in front of him for days already. What part of there's been almost 4,000 resets and FRISK was only 892 and . . . well, I suppose back then. She didn't have that_ _mission name? Guess I could have said something differently. Oh, why . . . why am I starting . . . h-he wouldn't care anyhow! Different timelines don't matter, pointless, ah his favorite phrases!_

Flowey pulled himself back into the ground and rummaged around his MP's. His personal collection over all the resets. His best prized one though wasn't in his hands. It was in Sans. Still, the others always held information, and there was never any telling when one would come in handy. Unfortunately, even they wouldn't be able to retell the story correctly. And, he didn't want to. That wasn't him.

And even if he did, why would they believe him? He was a manipulative flower! That was Flowey. That was him. _Oh, I don't want to care. I don't want to care . . ._

Alas, that Smiley Trashbag missed one important thing about timelines being pointless. They were only pointless, if everything stayed in the timeline . . .

. . . and nothing wasn't yanked away, from the Underground itself.


	24. Encounter with Sans

**Author's Note: The site is being a bit of a pain today. Sorry. I am trying to get over the first cliffhanger (Frisk) today and on Sunday I'll get over the next cliffhanger. The cliffhangers at this point are multiple chapters long, but I hate cliffys, so I'll do my best to get the chapters with them up a little faster. That and it's just a good day for me, so enjoy some extra chapters.:)**

* * *

 **The Castle**

"Saaaaans!?"

Sans sighed. "Did you get him helped out?"

"Sans, no. I can't reach him."

Really? Sans went back to trying to get the bow tie on. "Seriously not that hard, Pap."

"I know it shouldn't be. Reach out with magic," Papyrus answered. "But, you're not getting it. I put everything I could into it, and I couldn't even hear a distant voice."

Sans turned. "What?"

"I'm saying if we don't figure out something right now, there won't be a need for a committing or a wedding or anything because he'll be dead!" Papyrus said firmly. "I'm sorry, Sans, but you're going to have get in gear and help me figure this out! Now!"

Sans took the tie off. "Pulse?"

"Barely. The skin is ice cold, it's changing blue. His eyes aren't moving, except for involuntary movement." Papyrus grabbed his skull. "I don't know what else to do. I used everything I had."

Sans nodded. "Okay, we'll try combining magic. That should wake him up."

* * *

 **Snowed Inn**

Frisky didn't even question the change in Sans' clothes, if she even noticed as she held Chance so tightly against her.

"Okay, let's try this again." Papyrus took Chance from Frisky and placed him between him and Sans.

Papyrus poured all the magic into it at the beginning, the room was practically covered in an orange light.

Sans added his own, lightly at first. _So, Chance. Buddy. Hey, you really need to come out and see us? Come on. You lifted a big ball before, this is easy. Let go. Just, do what feels natural._ Nothing. _Remember what we read about Skeletons? This is it, right here. You've just got to reach out. Find a different way to do it. You can reach out your magic to a_ _ball, you can reach out from this body_ _to us._ Still nothing. He put more magic behind it. _Come on. You're scaring the heck out of your_ _mo_ _m. Papyrus too. Let's not make this tough, kid. Let's go._ Nothing.

Papyrus was not kidding. There was a good chance he was going to lose him! He didn't want to overcome him with his power, he had a lot, but he needed to turn up the magic faster. _Come on, kid. Come on! Why aren't you saying something? You've got to spread your wings and fly, pal. Let's go, it's time to do actual magic in front of us. Seriously._ He pushed even more magic in, the room now dominated from orange to blue. _Chance, you have to do this! Be brave, trust your_ _ol_ _' Buddy Sans! This body you're in, it's dead. You're not dead, just it. Sort of. Kid, this is just like a cocoon now. It's time to come out of it, time to become your real self! You're a Monster!_ He poured even more magic into him, pushing it so much farther this time. Not a sound. Not a dent. Chance was so wrapped up, he couldn't even hear them. _Wake up, reality's calling! You're going to die if you don't try something! Buddy, Pal, Chum, do something, I'm begging_ _ya_ _!_

Nothing. _Okay, fine! Not the way I wanted to do this but it's time you know. You're my kid, not one of_ _Gaster's_ _experiments. Mine, okay? You're mom and you, you're going to come live forever with me and Papyrus. Happy ever after! Remember, hey? You always said you wanted to do that? Dream come true! Just for you! Just wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP!_

But, it wasn't working. Why wasn't it working? Above all the roaring sounds of the magic, Sans heard a strangled voice. A voice that was trying to be heard from outside. There weren't any windows, making it hard to hear. It was saying something strange. About faith.

"It's Not Going To Work If You Don't Have Faith! Smiley Trashbag, Stop Being An Idiot!"

Faith. What did he mean by faith? He was pouring everything he could into waking him up.

"Just Join Frisky You Moron!"

Frisky? Sans looked over toward Frisky, hovering over them. _Oh yeah!_ Kid Skeletons sometimes went too far in other directions when they 'played' and their parents brought them back. Maybe, but he didn't want to risk losing his grip on Chance. What if the loss of magic suddenly was too much for him? "Frisky, I need your hand!" He grabbed it and brought her closer. "I know you're always scared of my magic! I know Judgment Hall is always going to be painful, but you're going to have to be close to the magic for him! Okay?!"

Frisky nodded and pulled herself closer to Sans. "What's going on, what's wrong with him?!"

"Just try and hold him, try and talk to him!" He had to be honest though. "He might not make it, Frisky, so make it count!"

"He has to make it! I have the DETERMINATION to make sure he makes it! I can't lose him, Sans! No, no, I have to have faith!" She held onto him tightly, as Sans wrapped his arms around her. The magic coursing in that room was probably flowing out of the Inn by now in massive amounts. "I've never seen this happen to a conduit! None of this makes sense!"

"Frisky!" Sans looked toward the boy and her. "He's not just a conduit! His father isn't Gaster's experiments!"

Papyrus was still trying to hang on to. "Come on, Chance! Come on, you can do it!"

" . . . . . . . . . huuh?"

Sans pulled his magic back as Chance started to wiggle his fingers.

"Uhh?" Chance started to open his eyes. "What happened?"

"Frisk!" Frisky wrapped him in the biggest hug and started kissing him. "You're okay? Are you okay?"

Not a Skeleton. He wasn't a Skeleton? His fleshy hue was back, his eyes were open. He seemed fine. Absolutely fine. "You remember anything?" Sans asked him.

"I remember . . . I remember hearing some blurry voices . . ." Chance hugged his mom back. "I remember I couldn't feel you and I was crying, and then it all just went away, like I fell asleep."

"All just went away? No, are you kidding us?!" Papyrus practically shouted at the boy. He turned toward Sans. "Did you hear him?!"

"Yep."

"Do you know what that means?"

"Yep." Getting upset over it wasn't going to help things. _But, wait. That close call means he's still able to speak,_ _and he's still human?_ "Papyrus, I need you to get back over there and see if anyone spilled anything."

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes! Right away!"

"What in the world happened?" Frisky was staring intently at him. Sans just . . . kind of smirked.

"Nobody knows anything!" Papyrus shouted, returning instantly again. "I told them not to say anything to anyone, and King Asgore looked very confused. So." He stuck both his thumb bones up in the air. "We are still fine!" He looked toward Chance. "In a manner of speaking. Ugh! All that effort! I feel sooo drained, and it was for nothing."

"We couldn't tell. Don't stress," Sans insisted. "It'll be fine. Remember who this kid's supposed to be."

"A conduit?" Frisky questioned. "Okay, please. Somebody tell me what's going on now? Balancers are in the Underground. Alphys left me hanging. Chance almost died!"

"Chance was fine," Papyrus said, almost indecently. "Fine the entire time, he bottomed out."

"Pap, I'll take care of it." Sans moved away, trying to refix the door on the Inn room. "At least we know we've got a few days before anything else happens with him."

"We didn't even need to use magic! I feel so, so, used!" Papyrus covered the front of his skull.

"What's wrong, Papyrus?" Chance asked him before grabbing at his stomach. "Uh. Oww . . ."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I suppose I should have been watching for that sign too?" Papyrus groaned. "Well, I've never had to deal with it. Everyone is different, how was I supposed to know?"

"You weren't. I didn't see it either." Sans could not blame Papyrus at all. If they had been wrong, even a little of Pap's magic would have started to leave damage, and he would have figured it out very quickly. All Chance needed though, was just a little soul healing from his mom and dad. Nothing that even involved a healer, just close touch. No wonder Flowey was calling him a moron, he was pushing all of his power through Chance.

Yet, that kid's body didn't take a single amount of damage at all. It was like water falling off.

Damn. **_Massively_** dangerous six year old.

The change clearly wasn't going to be easy on him, and Sans would have to have a way more serious dialogue about it. Now, he'd be going through a sick phase. Probably. Every Skeleton kid was different when they grew up, but some of them actually 'bottomed out'. It meant that their mom and dad just needed to be near them when they 'played' too much in the wrong direction of their magic. After that, they usually snapped out of it.

But, now that that was over, it was time to get back to business. "OK, Papyrus, you go and take care of Chance. I'll explain things to Frisky." No more holding back. "Pretty sure she's been waiting for that explanation."

Once Sans fixed the door again, he looked toward Frisky.

It was time. And he knew that the only way to make FRISK listen, wasn't going to be easy. It was more than just a ball and chain thing. Frisky could jump out a window, or try to run, or try to shout something out that she shouldn't if he took it too easy.

He thought about it at first. Frisky wasn't too bad to get along with, but, he kept thinking about how far she always pushed in the past. One wrong move, and his good fortune that just popped back up? Was _toast_. "No puzzle to figure out." Sans moved around the room. "No exploration. No teleporting. No team members. None of that's going to help." He turned around, held his arm up and he had a dangerous glowing eye.

As he pulled her into an encounter.

* * *

Frisky immediately went on guard as she looked at her board to see what was going on. Her options were **TALK,** **COMMIT.** _Commit?_ _Why does he want to commit to me?_ **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "What are you doing?"

"Telling you news. Sorry, but I'm not playing by the rules of the board again. I've never had to. Of course, you always knew that." Sans snapped his fingers and blue bones were on the sides of him. "This is bad news, and in the past when situations got too tough FRISK always called for someone else to help. So, I've got to do this right." He squeezed his hand, making Frisky get so heavy she almost fell to the floor. "Toriel knows. Papyrus knows. Alphys knows. Undyne knows. Just about everyone you met in this timeline, so no one's going to come to help you."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "Help with what?" she asked softly, yet still trying to move higher against his magic.

"Chance's dad isn't some or parts of Gaster's experiment. It's actually this guy you're talking to right now."

Frisky got heavier, moving closer to the floor again.

"He's part Skeleton Monster. What just happened is because he's changing into a Skeleton, but it's a lot better than the alternative. Monsters aren't like humans, we have different rules. You are not the whole FRISK anymore, and I know you, so don't try anything."

Frisky moved up a little more. More DETERMINATION.

"Don't try to go back up with him," Sans explained. "Your ships are gone. You two are going to stay with Papyrus and I. Trust me, Frisky, this is the best way."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "Sans, what do you mean?" Frisky requested, moving up even a little more. "The ships are always there. They are always watching."

He aimed his bones directly at her. "I went up, revealed the sky, they were all shot down, and I set us back into motion shift. There's no way to escape the Underground. We have our own barrier. Only Monsters can leave now."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "What?!" Frisky really started to fight back against the magic. "What do you mean you destroyed them all? E-even if you did take it into motion shift, surely someone would be here? Y-you didn't . . ."

"I had five minutes," Sans said clearly. "I had to take that chance. Sorry, Frisky. I saved the conduits and PACIFISTS. Toriel and Alphys are taking care of the kids, and the PACIFISTS might be here or not. I didn't have much time to guide them."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "Everyone else?"

"Gone."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "But there were a bunch of people! Thousands! Fleets!"

"It's over. It's done with. You are lucky I saved **_any of them_**." His voice became so heavy again. "Our life was a game to them. Not just the Underground, but us. They made a kid. A kid between us. For no other intention than to make me strike him!"

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "No." Frisky shook her head. "We were here to bring the truth to the Monsters."

"You were here to create a weapon to destroy the Balancers. They used you and lied to you too." He let up on his magic a little. "Everything was a lie. None of it had a purpose. We. We were all just toys."

Frisky was sinking lower, but more on her own this time.

"Papyrus' life. My life. My emotions. It was all just . . . a game."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "I . . ." She was at a loss for words. "I don't get it."

"You wouldn't," Sans assured her. "Just think of him like a match. They tried to make a Monster-Human conduit but they kept lighting up and killing themselves. They left him unlit until he got older. Then . . . I was the spark."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "But . . . e-even if it is true . . ." She was slowly coming around to the truth. "If they wanted some kind of weird absorbing thing to happen, why would they have to make you the father?"

"Paternal. Monster power. Absorption level. It's technical," Sans settled on. "So, that's that. They get him, they win. He'll wipe out Balancers, Monsters, and anything else that exists that humans decide they don't like."

Frisky moved higher almost standing up. **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "I could have found a different alliance, one that works closer with Balancers. I can change my teleportation area."

"No."

 **DETERMINATION:** **ACT: Talk.** "There are different factions involved in my world," Frisky tried again. "Treaties. Contracts. I promise, I wouldn't put him in danger, and I can establish-"

"-nope-"

"-visits to the Underground-"

"-uh uh-"

"-As much as possible. Will you even let me finish my talk in my own turn?"

"No. Nope. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Nothing." Sans shook his skull slowly. "No way, Frisky. Papyrus and I are committing to you two."

"What does that mean?"

"You're going to be considered our sister," Sans said. "We'll take Chance as Uncles. We'll take care of you forever, but you can't ever leave the Underground again."

Frisky let herself move to the floor, her training and experiences kicking in, in full mode. The only thing she could do . . . was crawl beneath the bed. Under the darkness of the bed, her head started to play back so much. There was just so much . . .

 **/Frisky sighed as she looked at her** **course** **. "PACIFIST?" That wasn't what she wanted. She couldn't risk being able to just learn to talk out her problems when they started to send them out.**

 **"Uh, hey?" A girl next to her asked. "Hey, you okay?"**

 **Frisky waited** **for the Balancer trainer to turn his back before she bent toward her and spoke. "I wanted NEUTRAL** **IST** **. I'm not in any condition to be PACIFIST."**

 **"Why?"**

 **"I failed my last mission," Frisky informed her. She moved her baby out of the way of her stomach.**

 **"Yeah, I figured. That or you were fat. Baby in and baby out at the same time. That sucks. _Always_ accomplish a mission, no matter what.** **"**

 **The Balancer was still turned around.**

 **"How far along are you?"**

 **"I don't know, I've got a total mindwipe. I feel like a rookie," Frisky admitted. "I don't remember any of this soldier training at all. I don't know anything about the baby I'm holding in my hands or the one in my stomach.** **I'm back at square one.** **" She straightened up when the Balancer came her way and waited for it to leave.**

 **"Oh no, that's bad." The girl looked around the room. "Do you know which guy** **or guys** **?"**

 **"I have the number 04823 but that's it** **. Total mindwipe reset.** **"**

 **"Oh.** **So what all do you remember?"**

 **"Just the last two days of classes** **. Do you know me?"**

 **"No. We get separated out pretty quick so we don't make friends. Only allies until we get through training and to our ships** **." The girl waited for her back to turn. "** **I'm 36320. KINDNESS. You?"**

 **"Um." Frisky waited a few minutes before the Balancer was further away again. "45952, or um, 96452?"**

 **"T** **alking during training."**

 **Oh no.** **What was she supposed to do? "Sorry, Sir? I-I just had a question."**

 **He didn't look satisfied with that answer. "Au** **thentication?"**

 **"Um." Shoot. "I forgot."**

 **"You forgot?"**

 **"I'm new."**

 **"I'm new. Well, you're not "I'm new." Your number is you. It's only you. You forget your number, you forget your own existence."**

 **"Sorry."**

 **"Is that what you are choosing to resolve this situation with** **? A** **simple 'sorry'? Is that the right action? I asked you your number, and you don't know it. Is sorry the action that I am wanting from you?"**

 **"I-I"**

 **"Lowest score on the last test. 2910458."**

 **Frisky watched him pull out a weapon, aim it toward a classmate, and shoot. Killing him instantly.**

 **"Your name is 95452. Say it!"**

 **"95452!"**

 **"Stand up!"**

 **Frisky stood up.**

 **"I don't care if you're** **mind wiped from a failed mission. I don't care if you're** **caring a stupid re-reset or a conduit. I don't care, you have no protection.** **Consider this the only warning you get.** **Now, what is your number?"**

 **"9545** **2, Sir!"**

 **"Great. Shout it a thousand times before I finish the lecture and you live. And don't worry, I'm a Balancer, keeping count is easy for me. And** **t** **he weapon is just a kindness for class. Don't make the deadline, and I'll just eat you for lunch." He opened his mouth and his teeth glinted. "Class ends soon though, and I've only got a lousy sandwich my wife made, so** **better get started because a three course meal sounds much better."**

 **"95452! 95452! 95452! 95452!"/**

Life was cruel. It was cruel. How could she have made it through everything, only to end up there? Underneath the bed. Dark and small. To think about the right action. Once again.

 **/** **"Wrong, try again! Reason it out!"**

 **Frisky looked around the training facility. Swamp Balancers. Right action. Right action. What was the right action? She hadn't trained for them yet. "Ask if I can swim with them?"**

 **She was thrown into a small hole, not much bigger than herself. Her eyes darted back and** **forth. It was out of her training level, but she was now in the hole. If she didn't think** **fast, someone would shoot her right there and drag her carcass out. "Mercy, flee!"**

 **"Correct. They will kill you. There is no reasoning with a Swamp Balancer."/**

 **/** **Frisky opened her assigned side again. "GENOCIDE?" She didn't want to train for genocide. She looked at 36320.** **She put the paper to the corner of her area. Learning TERMINATOR was hard enough to do, but GENOCIDE? It was cruel, no matter where she would be sent out for training. Killing everything in the area with no mercy. Sickening, and she didn't want to do it.**

 **"They change you all the time until you get more advanced," 36320 warned her. "Don't worry. I'm GENOCIDE too, so I'll help out your area.** **Stick with me, and I will get you through. I promise.** **"/**

So many new soldiers with no choice. Those in training. Dead. All dead. Because Sans assumed they were all bad. Even the Pacifists could be bad if they were just in training. Everyone. Anyone in training, just a luck of a draw.

 **/** **NEUTRALIST. "** **Dangit** **." She would forever be neutral? Frisky knew she should be happy not becoming a GENOCIDER or TERMINATOR, but** **permanent** **NEUTRALIST?** **Her son would be stuck using his body** **in some horrible missions.** **She** **looked toward the side of her. 36320 was sitting somewhere else now. Every once in awhile, she switched cards. It was risky doing so each time, and even though she wasn't the most pleasant** **person** **, she was always there for her** **, willing to take the fall if they got caught.**

 **Repercussions wouldn't mean being eaten though, their trainer was a human today. Just as vicious, but at least a bullet to the head wasn't the same as being eaten alive.**

 **According to records she had three mindwipes, two failed pregnancies and her conduit boy she loved. She'd be damned if she was going to screw up again. Pairing often with 36320, she had honed her strategies and moves. She started to follow the lead of two excellent guys in her class. By the end of that year, she was scoring excellent in all the training** **exercises, missions, and was even declared the top in the class for DETERMINATION now.**

 **But, that was why she was getting NEUTRALIST, which she didn't want. She needed PACIFIST if she was going to keep her boy sane and alive.** **Unfortunately, there** **was another girl sitting next to her. It would be tricky, but Frisky had gotten very good at ACT** **.** **There could be three results from what she would do. There was no time to mess around though.**

 **She held her boy close to her.** **"Shoot," she muttered, high enough for the girl to hear. "This is horrible. My poor little boy, I don't see how we are going to survive with this card. We'll be stuck in the toughest of missions." She rocked 95451 on her lap and kissed the top of his head. "There's no way** **you can** **survive GENOCIDE and still keep your mind** **."**

 **The lie worked.**

 **The girl tossed her card over toward Frisky haphazardly, pretending it was an accident. She picked up** **Frisky's** **card on the table. Either she was PACIFIST or NEUTRAL to have such a kind heart. A GENOCIDER or TERMINATOR wouldn't have gone for the ploy. Frisky immediately took the card, flipped it over, and wrote her identification number at the top.**

 **The girl was in the process of doing the same when her arm had been grabbed.**

 **"No trying to switch cards!" The trainer glared at Frisky and looked at her card. Her number was on it. He looked toward the girl. Her number wasn't quite on it.** **He picked her up with his massive hand and looked toward Frisky. "I don't know if you switched cards."**

 **"I didn't," Frisky lied, holding her son tighter.**

 **"I hope not because I wouldn't want to sleep at night with what you did, if you did." He held the girl up higher. "This is 95450. Your biological** **sister." He snapped her neck and she fell to the ground. "Good call though, with chops like those, you're going to make one hell of a soldier. Maybe you'll even get to teach classes one day." He picked her MP off the floor. "Here. The least I can do is let you see anything left of her."** **He winked at her creepily.**

 **Frisky stared blankly as the MP was tossed her way. Her . . . sister?**

 **"** **Never assume a human is going to be any kinder," someone said from behind her. "If they make it to this level, they're more rotten than the Balancers. They don't get any worse than** **04823** **.** **"** **/**

She heard Sans call to her, telling her that she better not try to run out the door or get away again. _Is it really . . . over?_

Then she felt something on her foot. A familiar feeling, and she felt herself being dragged out of her hole with Sans' powerful magic. _Almost freedom. Almost._ They'd eventually find a way through. They always did. There was too much determination to escape forever, and when they did? When they saw where she was, living peacefully with Sans and Papyrus? _Almost free! Almost citizenship!_

Almost didn't cut it though. As confused, torn, and out of it as she felt it never stopped a battle. And that's what it was, a battle. A battle to make her bend to his will.

Bending. Bending to someone's will. At least when she was FRISK, she had more say. She could do more things. With Friskarino and Farrisk, their knowledge and their skill alone, she felt like she could take on the world. All those months of that power made her even believe that she was more than she had been. She could go through anything. Climb any mountain. Pass any battle. But it was all just one gigantic ACT.

And feeling Sans powers against her was just another reality reminder of where she was heading to afterwards. When they found her. When they caught her. She had gained her freedom with that emergency mission, but if she went willingly through this, they would see. They would know. And any chance of freedom would be gone. Frisk would be taken from her, and she would be handed back to 04823 with another mindwipe reset. And all over again. And all over again!

But, if she rebelled against them, then Sans and Papyrus wouldn't have a happy life either. And as much as her ship and the many innocent deaths affected her, and all the deaths that would or had occurred because of his actions . . . _I can't hurt him. Even if I could, I could never do that. I'd rather die._

She couldn't yell or scream, or make it rough on them. But, she couldn't just go and live peacefully either. An agreeable soldier. That was her best option.

 _Maybe I should just give up on the idea of freedom and finally just go to Conner when this is all over. My determination, it's just worn so thin now._

No talk. No scream. No yell. No blame. No voice.

 **ACT: COMMIT**


	25. A Picture of Once Was

Flowey groaned as he watched through the stained-glass window. 'Frisky' in a ball and chain. Really? _That idiot is such a moron!_ _Gaahhh_ _! There they were, same place. Same position. Different ceremony, with a twist that was just halfway_ _stu_ _pid_ _. Sister instead of wife._ "He's so stuuuuuupid!"

 **Then help him out.**

"What?!" Flowey curled himself under his own stems as he saw her. "Ch-chara?"

"See? See why you should have gone through with it?" Chara stood next to him, right outside the window. "Look. See? The FRISKS. My Itty Bitty. None of them would exist in this world where it was better to die than to live. If we had wiped humanity out back then, they would have never been born and suffered this way. If you had done it right, it would have all ended. Conduits, re-resets, and Balancers. I mean, the horrible thing about Balancers is the human side."

Flowey didn't respond.

"What's wrong? Think I'm gonna kill ya? Should I? For bringing this all on us?" Chara just laughed at him. "I wouldn't do that. I've got something in mind later for you. So, how sick and twisted is this? I'm waiting to hear him say it. Did he say it yet? Did he say he was going to be her brother?"

"No," Flowey said weakly. "Chara, what um, are you doing-?"

"I'm not alive, idiot." Chara laughed. "I'm attached to the new barrier. That things got a lot of power and it's using a lot of my DETERMINATION too. Awesome, huh?" She lifted her arms. "I even gave myself a fake form like my old self. It's nice. It doesn't do anything, but I feel better. Hear that? I feel. Do you feel yet? Do you feel any _caring_?"

Flowey made a cringed face.

"Yeah, I thought so." Chara disappeared but her voice was still around. "Don't worry. I've got one more test for her. This isn't over yet, and this time? It'll end better. It'll end a thousand times better. If she passes it."

"I don't care how it ends," Flowey hissed after a minute of her voice being done. " _I don't care._ _It's more awkward than caring._ _"_ Still . . . a part of him hoped she was right. Better than last time would be good.

* * *

 **Flowey's Memories . . .**

 _"Hey," Sans patted Tahoe's back. "Papyrus could use some help with refreshments too._ _A lot of the Royal Family is here_ _. This part human thing is a really big deal."_

 _Tahoe turned around and just stared at him. "You're a really big idiot. But, it doesn't matter. It's all pointless."_

 _"_ _Uuh_ _. Kay?" Sans scratched his skull. "Could you try and be happy on my wedding day?"_

 _"Maybe on the next one. Where's the_ _brewski's_ _?"_

 _"What?" Sans groaned. "Hey, Tahoe, you better be good_ _today_ _. Faith is nervous enough already."_

 _"She probably is. What else is new. What else is ever new?" Tahoe turned away. "If I were you, I wouldn't let Princess_ _Chara_ _get so close to her. But yo_ _u_ _know, whatever. Probably doesn't really matter. Just a suggestion."_

 _"That Skeleton sometimes." Sans shoved his hands into the pockets on his white tux. He looked over on the other side where Princess_ _Chara_ _bounded in._

 _Flowey_ _looked over at Tahoe, staring back at him through the stained windows._

 _"Homesick?" Tahoe teased him. "Guess they didn't care about making any room for you_ _in this_ _dumb version_ _, did they?_ _"_

 _"They didn't make room for her_ _either_ _and you dang well know it,"_ _Flowey_ _growled at him._

 _"Whatever. Humans do what they want, and we just deal with it." Tahoe leaned against the stained windows. "You could do something you know."_

 _"I can't take on a conduit. Nobody can take on a conduit,"_ _Flowey_ _complained. "Just let CHARA do what she needs to. It'll be over and done with."_

 _"Nothing's ever over and done with," Tahoe complained. "It just loops, over and over."_

 _"Not this time. My_ _sources_ _say_ _. . . this timeline option won't last much longer."_ _Flowey_ _looked back toward him. "Something wicked this way comes. Have you heard that before?_ _Chara_ _._ _The real_ _Chara_ _. She used to say that."_

 _"Shut up. It's coming."_

 _Princess_ _Chara_ _greet_ _ed_ _Sans_ _with a curtsy. "Hello Mister Groom. I_ _hugged your wife earlier._ _I_ _was wondering if I could see your baby_ _now_ _?"_

 _"_ _Uh_ _, you can't yet," Sans answered here. "It's still in my Faith's tummy._ _That's why she was so round, kid._ _"_

 _"Oh. Where is your new_ _will be_ _wife lady?" Princess_ _Chara_ _smiled._

 _"Uh? Not far._ _Didn't you just say you hugged her?_ _" Sans bent down towards her. "You okay, kid? You look_ _kind_ _of_ _funny. Like, not quite right."_

 _"I am absolutely fine, Mister Skeleton Groom._ _In fact, I'm better than ever. Say, how many hit points do you have?"_

 _"That's not regular talk for a kid." Sans eye sockets went_ _completely black_ _. "What are you?"_

 _"CHARA. I am here to_ _kill your would be wife_ _." She smiled._

 _"What?!" Sans pulled her into an encounter. "You're nuts, kid! You better not come near her!_ _"_

 ** _CHARA: ACT: Talk._** _"So it is true, you don't have to use the board._ _Gaster_ _gave his family loopholes for it, didn't he? Pretty cool. Anyhow, just take your turn so I can kill you."_

 _The Royal family came in and saw the fight, screaming at Sans not to hurt their child. Sans took some time deciding which way to approach._

 ** _SANS THE SKELETON: ACT: TALK:_** _"Just take back what you said and I'll end this."_

 ** _CHARA: FIGHT_**

 _Tahoe sighed as he watched the Royal Family, the Skeletons, Papyrus, and anyone else in the way get slaughtered_ _. "Just the same thing again, Flowey. Told you._ _Hm_ _?"_

 _"Not quite." CHARA walked over to him._

 _"Go ahead_ _already_ _."_

 _"Well, if you're tired of it, then_ _let's move on_ _. Concentrate on a location ahead of you."_ _CHARA smiled at him. "See that button?"_

 _"Reboot_ _?_ _"_

 _"Yep. Clear the memories. Clear the resets. Clear the saves. Clear the continues. Clear it all up. Just hit the button," CHARA encouraged him. "Just hit that_ _biiiiig_ _button."_

 _"Why_ _?"_

 _"Humans and Monsters don't interact like_ _that_ _. They just don't._ _95452_ _was so low on the totem pole_ _, no one noticed she was even missing at first. She was j_ _ust a simple incognito surveyor that bumped her head because of that idiot. B_ _y the time we figured it out, she pulled the same thing that kid 'Princess_ _Chara_ _', did and was already established down here. So, we left her mostly be. Minimal contact, simple story._ _It was_ _easier that way, until she did the unthinkable._ _" She made a face. "I mean really! With A_ _Monster!"_

 _"You don't say._ _'Cause_ _I don't really care_ _about any of this. What's the point?_ _"_

 _"Well, resetting gets difficult with a new human_ _soul_ _in the program_ _, and a new_ ** _Monster-human_** _soul was made. The more we reset with that_ _kind of_ _new soul, things g_ _o_ _t bad. We barely had enough juice for mindwiping to make them all forget the princess died_ _so we could get a conduit in here."_

 _"Yeah. I think there's a little flower that's pissed you forgot about his existence in your little game of make believe down here."_

 _"Shut up!"_ _Flowey_ _yelled at him._

 _"Look. We just_ _need you to give a hard reboot_ _," CHARA said._

 _"Oh yeah? What happens if I don't_ _?_ _"_

 _"Well, we keep going and looping, error after error after error until things get so bad you can't even get a whole hour before you reset. Over and over, errors for the rest of eternity."_

 _"What happens if I do?"_

 _"Something different. Isn't that all that matters? Escaping it all?" CHARA smiled at him._

 _Tahoe leaned against the wall_ _again, tapping his bony fingers against it._

 _"Don't, don't!"_ _Flowey_ _warned him. "Don't do it, you idiot, she's lying! It means that they've almost broke their grip on the Underground! We're almost free from resets!"_

 _"Would I remember anything?"_

 _"Not a thing."_

 _"Then, new times. New days."_

 _"Be realistic you moron, that's not how it works!"_

 _"The reboot would kill my cousin San_ _s' kid?"_

 _"No, no. We're taking the bride out of here._ _That's all. It'll be like she never came."_

 _"The illusion would be over? This fakeness?"_

 _"No, no, no!"_ _Flowey_ _screamed at him from the stained window. "You IDIOT!" His face turned evil and_ _vicious_ _. "It won't end, it won't! All that will end is you! Now is the chance to let it break!"_

 _"It won't break, it'll just turn over and over and over and over and over and over," CHARA chuckled. "Come on, Tahoe. You have two choices. Listen to a flower that has always been an evil little devil, or go with your own thoughts. You want it to end? Right?"_

 _"But . . . Sans spent years with her. Sans_ _and Papyrus_ _. They all_ _took care of her for so long. Shoot, th_ _e house was even redesigned for her. You going to redesign the house too?"_

 _"No, don't give them pointers!"_ _Flowey_ _complained._

 _"Are you sure they'd be alright? Faith and Chance?"_

 _"Well. We'll shove Faith somewhere else, that's for sure. She's not touching the Underground again. The abomination . . . I cannot confirm what we'll do with it_ _._ _"_

 _"Yeah,_ _'cause_ _that's making me reach for that button. That's my nephew. You've messed up_ _Gaster's_ _brain_ _enough as it is. He's thinking about parallel timelines_ _now because of what you keep doing with his experiments. Although, his idea is tracking all the stuff you do." Tahoe shook his head. "This would hurt everyone."_

 _"Yes, yes, go with that!"_ _Flowey_ _cheered him on. "You'll hurt your_ _family. You don't want to hurt family. Trust me. Please. Okay, I know, I'm not always trustworthy! Damn it, trust me this time! Leave the button alone. Everything will be_ _fiiiiiiine_ _._ _Pleeeeease_ _?"_

 _"Okay, here's the deal." CHARA pushed her hands behind her. "An official declaration that we will not get rid of the abomination. We will probably study it considering the uniqueness of it's existence. I'm sure Balancers would never let us get rid of it anyhow. It is part Classic Monster."_

 _"And Faith? She's about to pop. How would you cover that up?"_

 _"Oh. Trust me. That's easy_ _. Almost every woman messes up on at least one mission when they become a soldier."_

 _"You know,_ _I don't think I want to know what that means."_

 _"Probably not. So?"_

 _"It's not right. You know it's not right. Come on, don't do it, Tahoe! You freaking idiot, stop thinking about it!"_ _Flowey_ _was beating his petals on the stained window._

 _"It'll all end for you. I promise. Do this, and we'll pick someone new."_

 _"Liars, you just use me!"_ _Flowey_ _shouted. "Even when I'm not your precious little Guardian_ _, you can't touch my mind! I don't fit your funky programming! You just know, you just know when it's coming so you have an excuse not to give the power to me! Give the POWER to me!_ _GiVe_ _It To Me!"_ _This time, his petals and stem broke through the glass._

 _"That flower really wants your power," CHARA spoke looking straight at him. "Come on."_

 _"You're overusing that conduit," Tahoe warned her. "Your emotion has been way too high."_

 _"I don't care, it's just a conduit. If it dies, we'll just come right back with another similar kid to control. So, make your decision."_

 _"No, you idiot! No, no, no!"_ _Flowey_ _tried to wrap around him, to keep him from being an idiot, but it didn't work. He got flung off._

 _He picked up his_ _petaled_ _face off a pre-wedding photo taken. "If only I was more than a lousy flower." He picked up the photo and went back to the ground. He knew what would happen._

 _He moved down, down, down into the ground. Down past where resets started to interrupt. There wasn't much room in it. Just enough room for a few things over the resets and reboots here and there, including his MP's. Yeah, there was a barrier below the Underground, but he found a tiny area, right before it, where the reset didn't affect it._

 _It wasn't very big. Just a little glitch spot. He tossed the picture on the top of it all. Sans was dressed in his white tux and tied black bowtie, with the goofiest grin on his face while he was giving his brother bunny ears behind his skull. Papyrus was bending down so he was down in the short little picture. On the other side was Faith, grinning, yet nervous at the same time as she touched her belly._

 _Just another slice of what would never be._

* * *

"Well, everything is still in order," King Asgore announced. "So, where were we? Sans the Skeleton, what would you like to be?"

"Um. Uncle is fine, to the kid." Sans looked toward Frisky. Even though she was holding Chance, she was still standing as erect as a soldier with the ball and chain attached to her. "I guess brother to the mom."

"They have established names, so you need to use their names," King Asgore said. "Frisky and Chance, correct?"

"That is incorrect, Sir," Frisky spoke up. "My name is 95452. My full designation is 95452, Ship 229, DETERMINATION. Frisky is only an off-slang of what was my mission name, Frisk. The name Chance is a given name by Sans to my son, but it is not his official designation either. He is 95451, Ship 229, CONDUIT. Also known as Frisk."

King Asgore looked toward Undyne, and then back to Sans and Papyrus who were trying to look humble about that. "Those aren't very good names. Do you wish to rename them?"

"Yeah," Sans piped up. "Chance and Frisky."

"But Frisky was part of her mission name. Are you sure you don't want something a little more unique? Especially if you want to get out of this 'deprogramming' I would say, using Alphys term?"

"Mission name?" Papyrus looked toward her. "I suppose I never thought of it that way. What do you think, Sans?"

"Hmmm . . ." A name. "Can we do what Alphys did, and make something official later?" They didn't have time for it, but the King had a point. As used to the name as he was, Frisky was still a mission name.

"Oh, did I miss all the festivities?" Mettaton asked as he whirled himself into the room on his wheel. "Oh, hello OOo OOo King Asgore! I wanted to see if you had any new information to add for everyone about the skies and humans to all my viewers!"

"Uh, no," King Asgore said. "I told them everything I could."

"Oh, so sorry everyone! But, let's see. Oh, a marriage! Oh, a um, oh not a happy marriage by the look of those shackles!"

"Uh, Mettaton?" Alphys said softly. "Maybe not _here_ right now?"

"Aww, another hostile marriage? Oh, how horrible!" Mettaton came right in front of Frisky, forcing her to back up. "Why so hostile? Isn't it okay to just try and _love_? I mean, he is trying to take care of you. Isn't that enough?"

Sans looked toward Papyrus who just shrugged his shoulders and then gestured to the suit Sans was still wearing.

As Frisky got pushed up further against the wall though, she noticed something strange. Mettaton's front came down and . . . _Frisk?!_

 _"_ And after all, I'm sure the smooches will be incredible!" Friskay, the KINDNESS that helped her through everything, and definitely the most hostile of the group said through a speaker. "Especially with such a hot stud like a short punny skeleton. Our viewers say that short dorky skeletons aren't quite as low as a swamp creature!"

Before she knew what was happening, Frisk felt her hands being grabbed, and . . .

* * *

Snow. Lots of snow.

"Didn't think we'd just leave you hanging, did you, Frisky?" Friskay took the head of Mettaton off. "Alphys made a lot of spare parts. Took time to get it all done, but you know Friskarino tends to get it figured out."

Friskarino and Farrisk both came out of the machine too.

FRISK. FRISK saved her! Frisky tried to half hug them since she couldn't give out full hugs since Frisk was so sick.

"Like we could let you ever marry Sans the Skeleton?" Friskay shoved her finger in her throat. "Gag me!"

"You really should have tried to run out the window and meet us at our rendezvouz point next to the umbrellas," Farrisk said. "I figured that would be what you would do, but Friskay reminded me you might not be the type to do that alone."

"I knew some of you survived. Weak protection, but still protection down here." Frisky gestured toward their MP3's. "How'd you get those?"

"How? Let me guess, your almost new hubby didn't bother telling you _why_ the new barrier is so good at keeping out humans?" Friskay asked as she touched Frisky's coat. "Oh, gross. You've got to get some new wardrobe, stat."

"Yeah, and meds." Farrisk touched Chance's head. "He's not looking so good. Come on, Frisky. We've got medicine on board. We are on an allied Balancer ship right now. Believe it or not, even HONESTY survived. Although, she's even worse off than before. Now she's not half as aggressive, but she is still not doing real well. Don't worry though. They are going to heal him for good, and then we are out of here. On to a new mission! Or, uh, in your case. Back home."


	26. She's More Than Determination

_They are back. My team! I can have my life back again. I could get my freedom. My previous ship will never get their hands on Frisk and . . . and . . ._

"Here you go." Farrisk handed her his MP after helping to get the ball and chain off her feet. "The new teleporting location is ready. It was made during the whole catastrophe, and it's the only way out. " He smiled. "You know us FRISK's, we always find a way to win."

 _No one is going to come to help you, he said. He told everyone. He took every measurement he could so that I couldn't leave. So that I couldn't win._ Chance moaned in her arms. "Uh, Sans wasn't marrying me," Frisky informed them all. "He was committing to me. Him and Papyrus. There's a big difference, you know."

"Uh?" Farrisk blinked. "You mean he was going to take you as a sister and Chance as his son? How would that have worked?"

"He was going to go as Uncle," Frisky said, looking down at Chance. _There are literally hundreds of thousands of monster skeletons outside Underground. I could get him the help he would need when he was ready for it._ Why didn't that make her feel better?

"You see?" Friskarino stared down Friskay and Farrisk. "You see, I _told_ you that we should have just let it work itself out!"

"There's no way Frisky would want to stay in the Underground," Friskay said in their defense. "And if it was just a simple committing, then why so hush-hush? They could have boldly told her without telling her about Frisk."

"No." Frisky patted Frisk on his back tenderly. "They were so afraid I would leave. As FRISK, I didn't exactly stay in one place for very long. Or always listen too well."

"Heck no, there is so much out there to the world, you can't help but explore," Farrisk smiled. "Being a soldier is the greatest thing. You never know what you're going to see next. Who you'll battle. What you'll be doing in the next five minutes."

"Yeah." Frisky lifted her eyes toward Farrisk. "They were . . . they were expecting your actions from me. Your quick-wit ideas and active strategies."

"Alright, so?" Friskay patted her on the back. "Look, the whole ordeal is done. We have a treaty in place for Frisk and everything. He is super dangerous now, so he'll have to live in a zone they control with 24 hour guard on him. But, they don't want him hurt either because he's still Classic Monster."

"Yeah, they are kind of happy about him," Farrisk added as he gestured to the little guy. "He is going to be just fine. You and him." He grinned. "As for the rest of us, we'll head out of the Underground for new places and adventures."

 _Farrisk_ _. They were expecting_ _Farrisk_ _because I refused to meet Sans outside of Judgment Hall. He never got to know me as FRISK. What I'd do . . ._ It couldn't matter whether Sans really understood her or not. They would all come. They would all find their way around the barrier, and they would come for Frisk. They would come for her. There was never an escape.

"I think we should get going. We have a limited time back down here, the Balancers were getting iffy on us earlier," Friskay reminded Farrisk and Friskarino. "They aren't going to assist us with protection much longer. Let's get out."

"No, not yet," Friskarino insisted. "Come on, you guys. This isn't right."

"Not this again, Friskarino!" Friskay complained. "Stop saying no."

"I can't help it," he smiled, "it's-"

"in my name," everyone said at the same time.

Friskarino clicked his tongue and winked at them all. "You get the gist."

 _The friendly buddy. Chum. Pal. The good moments when he wasn't being ignored so much for the name of GENOCIDE, for continuing the adventure, or because_ _Friskay_ _couldn't stand him. That was_ _Friskarino_ _. He was sensing_ _Friskarino_ _._ Once again, not her. That wasn't her either.

Sans expected the playfulness of Frisk, the audacity of Friskay, the 'I-can't-stop-for-anything' Farrisk, and the laid back kindred charm of Friskarino. But, none of those were her. Why was that hurting her so much? Especially when she'd probably . . . never . . . well, when she . . .

"Look, I'm transporting first to get this party started," Friskay said as she gestured to Frisky's MP. "This is far from what your used to, so don't clown around. It took forever for Friskarino to figure it out. This thing is one of the latest. It's an MP20."

MP 20? "How is that possible?"

"We've been on this roundabout mission for a lot longer than a year. Try ten." Friskay looked over at the guys. "Never aging in FRISK and constant mindwipes. I am petitioning to never be a part of a conduit again."

"Aw, calm down," Farrisk said gently shouldering her. "We've got Frisk safe and sound for the Balancers. Then we can head out for our next new mission. Friskarino should have the details for it."

"Yep. We'll be STEVE. So, Stevy, Stevay, Stevisk,and Stevarino. At least, that's what I told Friskay." Friskarino winked back over at Farrisk. "Oh, she was so downright pissed with that name it was dribbling down her leg."

"Don't even kid. Seriously, it better not be Steve again. I hated that name. I hope it's something like Mike 'cause Mikay isn't too bad." Friskay looked back toward them. "Well, I'll see you up there in a few moments."

Farrisk nodded, following her up himself.

Friskarino relaxed on the ground with Frisky still standing in the snow with Frisk. "It's Chara. The barrier is powered by Chara's DETERMINATION."

"Huh?" Frisky came closer to him. "What do you mean?"

"Chara and Asriel. When they died, their souls were a Monster and human together. The program wasn't ready for that. They didn't reset inside a re-reset because of that. The barrier however entraps souls to make sure they don't escape. Death of a Monster can't happen, remember? So, they've been stuck. It's not essence. It's not just a lot of DETERMINATION. They physically were the souls, but the barrier changed their way of thinking. Look." Friskarino gave her his MP. "Check out the actual facts. For thousands of years, they've been stuck down here."

Frisky looked at the data. "If they couldn't be saved in a re-reset, why wouldn't they let them out?"

"Risk bringing the barrier down for just two mixed-up souls? The Monsters would be free and see everything. Not worth it, to them. Not for two souls. Tragic." Friskarino moved away from that page. "You're like a sister, Frisky, and I know you pretty well. So what are you doing here?"

"I got kidnapped," Frisky tried to joke. "I'm . . ."

"Look, you gotta make your own decision on this one, but I'm with ya no matter what you decide," Friskarino smiled. "I know what scares you, Frisky. You're scared that barrier is going to come down. I'll tell you something, and I'll be real with you. We only got this teleporting way out because we were doing it during the catastrophe. And, I think, because Chara's allowing it. The barrier has the same strength as before, but now it's got the DETERMINATION of one hell of a mad spirit with more than a thousand years of suffering behind it."

"Am I supposed to be happy to hear that?" Frisky questioned him. "Chara is still trapped. She's still tethered down. Even if she's controlling it, she can't rest in peace."

"According to what's being analyzed right now?" Friskarino dug further into the MP. "And, yeah, they are analyzing and watching the barrier constantly, every second something is recording something about it. But, here. See? She can shoot out from it too. In fact, reports have shown her actually appearing on some researching ships above the Underground, cussing them out."

"What?" Frisky looked at his MP.

"She's staying willingly, but, when she's ready, I think she'll just leave the DETERMINATION, and just leave. She isn't trapped. Come on. Sans and Alphys would never do that." Friskarino touched Frisk's head. "It might be five days, five years, 500 years, or they might never break that barrier."

"You don't know either?"

"No, not really. But . . ." Friskarino touched her hand. "You've got more than DETERMINATION. And, yeah, things are going to be good up there. Frisk is going to be safe, we got the best allied ship around. You won your freedom. You can live up there. Totally up to you. I'm not gonna diss you whatever you decide." He stood up. "But I will say this before I'm going up with the others. No part of FRISK, even the weaker parts, ever turned away because they were scared of what might happen in the future. Hey, we only live once? At least now, right? How do you want live?"

Frisky stood up from the snow. "Face my fears."

"That's what it's always about. Oh, before I go. Uh, the whole dropping in while you were being committed, claiming it was a wedding, and then teleporting you out? That might have brought some unscrupulous eyes to the situation." Friskarino shrugged her shoulders. "Probably not possible to do a commitment if you decide to go back. Sorry about that. Hey, everybody makes mistakes? I'll see ya around, Frisky."

Frisky looked at the MP. _If I take_ _Frisk, he'll be safe. Allied Balancers would be the safest thing for him. We could live with constant_ _surveillance_ _, but we could live. We could live with freedom. I could meet my parents. I would have my entire mind erased of being a soldier, and my_ _civilia_ _n_ _memories would be replenished._ _Frisk would never remember anything, he would have a normal life._

It was perfect. Except for one thing.

 _Sans we'll never see him again._ _His_ whole life had been torn apart. His memories were just as fuzzed up as hers. All he had was Papyrus. _He was even willing to chain_ _me_ _just to get through_ _everything_ _._ _He battled me for him._

Frisky started to walk through the snow. "Frisk would never know Sans was even his father. He'd never have any of these memories of him." No. Not Frisk. Chance.

Barely keeping a grip on the MP she walked further. "I am 95452. I am not the exciting adventurer. I am not the patient one. I am not the funny one. I . . . am . . . the one filled with DETERMINATION . . . to do the _right_ thing."

Not what was best for her. What was the right thing. With every step, she already knew what she was giving up.

Her freedom. Her chance to live a free life. She tried to walk through all the snow, back to the patches of trees ahead. "I can't do it to him. I just never could do anything to him. No, I don't _care_. Sans deserves Chance." She stumbled a little, but kept trying to go. The blizzard was getting intense.

He could have left her that night with those carvings on her back. He could have just slept and let them fester and scar. He didn't have to take her out to Grillby's that one day. He never had to take her anywhere.

And when she was ready to die to make Undyne leave them alone, he didn't have to care. _And he never had to show me mercy._ That sign. That Mercy sign. No.

She wasn't going to lose it again. _Dangit_ _, Sans. Why can't you just teleport to me?_ The other Frisk's probably had something blocking it.

"Momma," Chance groaned. "I'm c-cold."

"I know," Frisky said as she kept moving through the snow as fast as she could. The others had really thrown her far away from the usual course. "It's okay. I have the DETERMINATION to make it because this is . . . the _right_ thing to do."

Marry a skeleton. She could have gotten her life back, but she'd regret it with everything she was inside. _I've dealt with worse. Just not so life-changing that I couldn't get out of it eventually. But._ No, there was no way around it. "I have DETERMINATION but I have faith too. I have to have faith that . . . I can deal with this." Sans was friendly. He was a friend. He was Chance's father. Her thoughts couldn't get much further than that now.

"G-getting c-c-closer." Oh, damn. Why was it . . . oh yeah. The Frisk's had still been here, and now she was feeling the full weight of _no more protection_ on the Underground. She truly was nothing but a mere human.

She felt herself sink into the snow. _Oh, great. I think doing the right thing is going to kill me this time._ No need to worry about the whole marriage thing now. What was the temperature outside? Suitable for Monsters, not humans. _Sans, just find us. Please find us._ She hardly understood the basics of an MP and as she looked into it with her freezing fingers, she could see what Friskay was talking about. It was so different and complicated, it would take hours to figure out how to transport away to a safer place.

She couldn't go to the Balancer ship though. If she teleported there, they would never let her come back to the Underground. _Okay, I r-really should have talked this out with_ _Friskarino_ _. G-g-g-geez, Frisky! Why-didn't-you-talk-it-out?_

There was more than the marriage to consider. She was willingly putting her life on the line to try and get back. There was no way she could prove that Sans and Papyrus were forcing this on her. If the barrier ever came down, they'd know. And . . . and . . . _No, I can't be afraid about it._ _Friskarino_ _is right, I have to face my fears. I am the leader in ACTING! I have two choices. Take my freedom and the safe way out, and take away everything from Sans. Or, give in and accept the consequences if they make it back in. Those are it!_

And considering how much she'd already walked into that cold, and how freezing she was, she already knew that decision. In fact, her next decision was changing.

 _Okay. I'm dying, I know it. Someone we'll get us, but I'll be dead. That's a solid fact by now! Okay! Now. Chance is a Monster inside. He doesn't seem to be affected nearly as much. He'll survive. He'll survive and he can live in peace with Sans and Papyrus. And if anyone ever came for him, they would never let anyone take him._

Yep, that was it. Hit the button to teleport to freedom, or die to let Sans have Chance. Knowing which way she'd still ACT, she dropped the MP and held on tighter to Chance as she kept going.

Every step further.

One step further. One step at a time, until she could take no more steps. Sinking to the ground, she looked ahead. If she were FRISK, the length to safety would have been so easy. But not for her.

"Momma. It's okay, we'll be fine." Chance placed his hands on her. A warm, familiar blue glow was felt on her. Usually, that glow wasn't so friendly when it came to contact with her. It was that same light that had taken her and thrown her around forcefully during Judgment Hall. But, it was a softer touch. A warmer touch.

"Chance, yourrr sick," Frisky warned him. She didn't know the results of him doing that. She didn't want him to hurt himself to save her.

"Uh uh." Chance laid back down on her. "Momma. I'm not gonna let you go, no matter what you got yourself into. It's okay. Just relax." He tried to hum a happy tune. "You know Sans. He'll get here soon. He'll get here . . . oops."

A Balancer looked down at them. "Well. You're dying."

One last ACT. "Yes, and I very desperate not to. To. Desperate. Son, drift?" Frisky was trying with all she had. She tried to move herself upward. "S-s-s-save."

"Ooh." He picked her up with one hand and Chance in the other. "A desperate human and it's young. Let's head up ahead and see how you feel about your actions when you warm up."


	27. Encounter at Grillbys

"Um. King Asgore said that um . . . well, when he finds her . . ." Papyrus couldn't even finish the statement. How could he? If someone had the power to teleport like _that_ , and with such mean words before leaving, it was probably someone who had a real way out. There was a good chance they were gone from the Underground. There was a very good chance, as Alphys said, that it was some of FRISK that had been out there. The cunning and skills of it seemed to match.

After that outburst and trick, the first thing Alphys did was call up Mettaton. He was currently on TV, and nowhere near the castle. While the speech about the marriage brought up questions that King Asgore wanted answers to.

At least King Asgore seemed very sensitive about the issue. He even patted Sans on the back. Not that his brother would or could appreciate such a gesture from the King. He seemed to be in his own little world now. "Sans?" Papyrus said. "D-did you get that?"

"What? Huh? Oh." Sans lifted his eyes from the floor. "No biggie, I guess. You know, I but uh, Frisky won't put him in danger. Probably got safety. Yeah. They are . . . they'll be fine." He looked upward and sighed. "I'm gonna go home and take a nap."

"Um. Sans? I don't think . . ." Papyrus didn't know what else to say as he hugged his brother. "Oh, Sans! I'm so, so, soooo sorry!"

"Hey, it's fine. We're fine." Sans patted his side lightly. "Just us two, but it's always just been us two. It'll be okay. Don't cry."

"Stop that!" Papyrus demanded. "I am trying to comfort _you_!"

"Uh, Sans?" Alphys called to him.

"It's fine, okay?" Sans patted his back again. He didn't really want to deal with anything else. Everyone else knew the answer to the questions the King wanted. What did it matter? "Relax, Pap."

"Sans?" Alphys called to him again.

"It'll be great for them. I bet. And, life just keeps going for us." Sans shrugged. "No. Big . . . deal."

"Sans?" Alphys bugged him once more. "Not everyone left yet. Please look?"

What did she mean? Sans looked toward Alphys as she showed him the MP that she had kept. "You know, these things always seem to come in handy. Even if they can't be used for as much, they are even handier for social stuff. A little reprogramming, and I can get endless messages down here on the paid without any extra money or plans or uh . . . And um. Sorry, train of thought. Um, there was an alert on it. I didn't think much of it. I wasn't checking it then. But." Alphys shoved it into his hands. "There was some strange teleporting news, and it ended around in Snowdin."

"As if that helps Sans!" Papyrus said, trying to hug him harder.

"Well, no, but." She gestured to the right side of the screen. "All of the heat signatures went away, except _two_. It looks like it traveled on the ground for awhile, stopped, and traveled again."

Longshot. It was a real longshot. There was really no reason Frisky would have stayed without shackles. She was going for freedom. Really. Why even bother? But . . . "Where?"

* * *

Sans arrived where the steps stopped, and then picked back up. He looked backward into the snow. There were two sets of footprints. One made by a Monster, and one made by a human. Then, it just turned into a Monster's footprints after a small part in the snow where it looked like a body or two had been laying.

Sans followed the footprints, putting a little more speed in his trot than usual.

It ended at, of all places, Grillby's.

 _What the . . ._ He stepped inside. Her. It was her and Chance's body. Chance was lying slumped, only half conscious next to a small seat. Frisky was unconscious, stuck in a strange monster's lap.

Sans didn't recognize them at all. Lately, Balancers had been seen coming in. Monsters that didn't quite look the same as them. Not in very big numbers, and so far no huge events had happened with them. It was the same with Monsters too. A lot of the regulars were missing. Probably exploring out of the Underground barrier, seeing the rest of the world they had been denied.

Which would be great _later_.

Sans tried to stay casual as he approached the table but he just wanted to yank them away as fast as possible! _She came back. She really came back? She was freed away by the rest of the Frisk. But, she stayed?_ She stayed, and by the look of it, she was risking her own life to get back.

There were two Balancers. One looked like it was more amphibious. Probably wouldn't be around for too long out of water. Green and thick skinned, it looked like a Monster. The second though was even stranger. It almost appeared human except for some horns on it's head. It was about the size of Papyrus.

Moving closer, Sans saw Frisky's legs and feet. He had to read up a lot on human survival to pass the committing, and he knew from that, it wasn't good. _That might equal permanent damage. Shoot_ _!_ _She needs a healer, quick._ _Why is she so bad off?_ Sans approached from behind. "Hey there, new guy. I need to ask you about that human luggage you've got."

"Don't bother. It's mine." It stood up and held Frisky haphazardly on it's shoulder like a ragdoll. "Look how cute it is? It's not even half my size."

"Yeah, guess so. But, uh, I kind of need her and that kid." Sans was trying to stay calm, but he really didn't like the way he was holding her. "Hey, Buddy, let's talk about this. Okay?"

"Hmm . . ." He shrugged. "I'm a reasonable Balancer. What do you want?"

"I just need them back. Just, hand them over. Cool?"

"For how much?"

Really, he had to pay to get them back? "Well, let's talk then. You're a Balancer, right? Hey, that's great. Haven't met one of you yet. I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton. You're going to find around here your money thing doesn't really **_balance_** out to anything. We pay for stuff with GOLD around here. So, why don't I just give you a pinch of GOLD for them?"

"I don't know. This is a pretty good haul right here." The Balancer held Frisky up by the neck off his shoulder. "Humans don't often have their young out." He stroked her cheek. "How much are they worth to you?"

Okay. Sans hated fighting. He didn't want to fight in Snowdin of all places. He definitely didn't want to fight in Grillby's. Not only that, that Balancer was holding Frisky, and he didn't want to hurt her. "I got GOLD, not money. Can we try and work with that?"

"I don't know how much is a lot of GOLD. I could be getting ripped off," The Balancer insisted. "Oh, the feet. Oops." He placed his hands around Frisky's legs, healing her up. "There we go, all better honey."

Sans watched his hand creep up higher on her legs than needed for healing. "Hey there, thanks for healing her. Appreciate it, but you really shouldn't hold her like that."

"You really better start to figure out a price then, 'cause I just stopped for a second and then I'm out of here," he insisted. "With my prizes. Oh yeah, and the price would be for the kid. I'm not losing the woman."

"Um." Sans held his hands out. "I really need both of them there, pal, so let's **_even out_** this situation."

"I'm not giving away both."

"Why not? The situation will stay more **_balanced_**."

"Hey, Sans?" Sans turned to see one of the locals that was still around. "Yo, hey, you need some help?"

"Nah, nah." He waved him off. "I'm fine. We're just talking. Nothing big." Sans tried to step a little more forward. He and Papyrus had spent a ton on the requirements they needed for Frisky and Chance. He didn't have too much to offer. "Well, GOLD is kind of hard to get unless you get a job inside the Underground. If you pass this way back and forth, then you're going to want some, right? You can find some out there, but without a job, you're not gonna get much. So, what about 10,000 GOLD?"

"Well. That sounds like a lot." It seemed to be thinking. "That's tough, I don't know. I would almost consider it, but this is really a nice thing I got going on here."

"It's just a human and a kid. Barely a couple meals, right? Why don't I just buy you a couple meals instead?" Because he only had enough for a couple of meals.

"What do you mean? I'm not eating them." He pulled her forward on himself. "She's a unique one. Only the human young are this small, but gawdamn, look at that body."

"Well then, pal, this isn't exactly the way to woo her," Sans chuckled. "Come on. Crack open a dating book."

"I'm not eating her and I'm not taking time to woo her." The Balancer touched the top of San's skull. "Aw, look, you're about the same size, huh? Seriously. Beat it, shrimp. You're starting to bug me. Plus, you're kind of freaky. You always talk without moving your mouth and just smile a lot. Creepy grinning little twerp."

Really? What kind of monster touches another like that? These Balancers really _were_ different. "I'm. Not real comfortable with the way your touching my skull right now. Really need to back off."

"Aw, look, the shorty is getting a little teed?" He wobbled his skull. "Look, I ain't got any more time for this, I'm just cutting through to get home. I've gotta get bills paid."

"Well. Hey. Then stop wasting time with those humans and . . ." The Balancer's hand was still on top of his skull. "Go away?"

"Oh, look at you. Pretending to be a little tough guy." He took his hand off his skull finally. "Fine, I'll let the kid go for the GOLD."

"And the other." Sans was getting tired of him.

"Nuh uh, Shrimp. I wouldn't even trade this short cutie for money." He raised her hand up high and jiggled it. "See, look at her? Love the cute little ragdoll size. This smol bean will be twice as fun when she wakes up."

"Really." Sans was losing his 'creepy grin'. "She's not a ragdoll. Not a short cutie. Not a 'smol bean'." Whatever that was. "Look. Just, don't make this tough. Kay?"

"No way, screw you, you little shrimp ass." He shoved his hands underneath her coat, touching her butt. "Like I said, she's not for sale. I can screw her without a kid or not, but she'll be much more willing with it. Makes it more fun. Huh?" He looked around. "What the heck is that thing?" He gestured to the funny board in front of him.

Everyone headed out of Grillby's. There was barely any room in there, and with an encounter in there, they didn't want to get pulled into the fight.

"What's this thing? What's that?" The Balancer looked back toward Sans. "Hey, why are you closing your eye sockets?"

When Sans opened his eye sockets back up, they were solid black. "One. Last. Chance." He closed his eye sockets again. "Give them up. _Now_."

"Neat little trick, but screw you. You think you can take me on?"

"Board. Use it."

The Balancer gazed at the board. He selected Fight.

Sans easily dodged it, but it did shatter a table and a booth. He knew he had no choice but to fight the thing, but he was still holding Frisky. How was he going to do this?

"Whuuh?" Chance was snapping out of it. "Momma?" As the Balancer tried to catch up, he quickly rolled out of the way, sensing danger. He still wasn't feeling well, but he was making his way toward Sans.

"Chance. Know your young, pal, but can't watch you. Get out of Grillby's." Chance knew his way around those boards, and he should guess what was going on.

"If you try to make it past me, I am going to eat you," the Balancer threatened Chance.

That Balancer had already made three offenses on the board. Even if he survived the battle, that Balancer was as good as dead. The board was starting to tick red on his side of the field. "Behind the bar, kid. Back way." Chance crawled behind the bar and headed through the back of the restaurant to the back door only the cook Grillby used.

"Damn it! I can't get half as much without the young," the Balancer complained, still holding Frisky tightly. "I am so going to kill you, you annoying little sucker."

Sans just stayed still, only moving a second from the dodge of the fight. He wasn't worried about the Balancer, he'd be dying soon. He needed to get Frisky up and off before- _Out of time!_ He hated to do it. He knew that she didn't like it, but it was necessary as the board made a high pitched noise. He used his magic on her and brought her straight toward him.

Just in time. Sans moved out the backway of Grillby's as he heard the terrifying scream of the Balancer. No one disobeyed the boards. Every Monster in the vicinity probably came to kill him for the offense. Or more likely to make the sound turn off. It was a really horrid high pitched sound, and it wouldn't stop until the offender was taken care of.

Chance was just outside, but barely standing. Really sick.

Sans held Frisky, still out like a light. Without any support, he still had to use his magic. At least she wasn't too big. She must be in real bad shape if she didn't even know he was using his magic to balance her. It was the worst thing in the world to her mind.

Chance was easier. He used his magic to scoot the sick kid closer. He wrapped his other arm around him, part of him not really believing he was there. He should have been long gone. Both of them. They were 'rescued' from him and Papyrus, so . . . "How ya holding up?"

"Cold. Really, really, c-cold," Chance said back, gripping Sans. "M-m-momma got super cold. Even colder."

"Kid, temperature's still the same." Sans looked at Chance. That Monster hadn't bothered healing him, only Frisky. No need to heal him, with the way he was speaking about . . . that was just . . . there wasn't even a word for it! No Monster talked like that. They'd eat people. They'd eat each other. They'd fight each other but it was apparent that the nastiness of humanity just joined with Monsters to create those things. Hopefully, there was some better ones than that out there.

"S-Sans? W-warm?"

Right. "How come you're so cold?"

"F-f-frisks. Th-they had protection," Chance muttered. "I-I don't remember much, but I heard them. Th-they left.M-Momma wouldn't go. She kept saying that . . ."

Sans watched as he slumped right against him.

* * *

"Oh my goodness." Monster Kid's mom kept them each in bed. "I am doing what I can. It is apparent that the boy's magic has been helping the regular human woman stay alive, but, even it seems tapped out. Usually a Monster has something reserved, but there's hardly anything left."

The roll out of danger and running out of Grillby's. They weren't well off at all. Frisky was still unconscious and Chance was back in the same state as before. "You have good timing, Sentry." She kept her hands on both of them. "I do not know if I will be strong enough alone. You see, their hit points keep getting lower, even as I heal them. This is a natural weather phenomenon. Weaker Monsters don't come into harder weather areas like Snowdin or Hotlands for this reason."

"Whatever it takes. What do you need?" Sans asked. "Another healer?"

"Ooh. Luck. Lots of it, and a very advanced healer would be good, but I'm about the most powerful in Snowdin. I'll do what I can."

"Got it. I will get Queen Toriel."

* * *

In no time at all after explaining the situation, Toriel followed him from the ruins to right there, healing each of them as much as she could. "So cold, oh they are so cold! They almost _died_. The snow is just too cold out there right now for fragile human skin. I keep my children nice and warm in the ruins. You don't come out in this weather for very long, and especially in the conditions right now."

 _Please, please, please be okay._ Sans looked over toward Papyrus. He had to bring him there. He needed him there, 'cause Sans himself didn't know how to take what was going on.

"They'll be okay?" Papyrus asked her.

"Yes, yes, We've almost got them all better." Toriel patted Chance's head. "Your family is almost all better, Sans."

Sans just stood, staring at them. Still, not quite believing it. Frisky could have left. Could have left and won, like FRISK always did. Whether it was to win the freedom, or whether it was to murder everything, FRISK always won. "Why . . ." Chance was trying to say something before he fainted. He was starting to look better. Just getting some deserved sleep.

Then, it finally happened. Frisky opened her eyes.

She looked around, still obviously out of it. "Oh, I did it again. _Really_ didn't think I'd survive that one." She moaned and felt around, probably for Chance. "Huh?"

"You're in a bed, safe and sound!" Papyrus said from her side. "Both of you are fine now!"

"Why?" Sans said to her. He should have asked how she was feeling, if she was okay, but it just came out. "You could have left. You should have left. You . . . why?"

"Because." Frisky shook her head. "Sans, you knew me as a prisoner, and that's all you know of _me_. You don't remember when we first met. You think I'm one of the other FRISK's. I'm just part, and I'm a part that you don't really know." She laid her head back down. "I don't have DETERMINATION to keep running on adventures. I have DETERMINATION to do the right thing, no matter the cost." She sighed and started to go to sleep.

"Okay, a little more healing. Back up, Sans," Toriel warned him. But, she gave him a warm smile. "She'll be okay, and, we'll get this done right. Okay?"

Sans nodded but couldn't say much. She was right though. Even though she'd been shackled, she hadn't gone cursing or fighting. But. She didn't even have shackles, and she stayed. She stayed. For him.

She put _him_ first. No one . . . put him first. Even though Papyrus tried his hardest for Sans, he was still his little brother. He still took more care of him than the other way around. This was . . . "I need to do something to help. What can I do?" He snapped his fingers. Clothes. "I'll be right back."

Sans teleported back to King Asgore's, trying to ignore all the utterings and wonderings as he looked through the clothes.

"Are they alright?!"

"Is Papyrus coming back?"

"Now what are you going to do?"

"Was it really other parts of FRISK?"

"Do you know why she came back?"

He went through the stack and tried to find something better. He'd been having her in his simple shirts and coats, even though they had other clothes now. They had to have something they never wore before to count for it. Well, he could use them now.

And he had no real idea how Frisky would react when she found out she had to marry a Skeleton now, but he wasn't going to start it with a fight and shackles this time.

"Sans, will you tell us something?!" Undyne finally commanded of him. "Are they okay, yes or no?"

"Yeah, yeah. There it is." A Temmie dress, the most expensive single thing they bought. Most of the clothes had be custom made, and the top notch designer for that was actually a Temmie. Named Bob. Bob didn't just specialize in the sizing, and Sans and Papyrus had made sure they got some built in magic inside of many of the clothes. It should really help keep her warm, and . . . and the other thing.

"If they are conscious, we really need to get this done," King Asgore said to Undyne. "The law is the law. As long as it is safe."

"But, um, maybe a small grace period? Any at all?" Alphys asked him. "I-I think it would be easier to-ooh! Is that her wedding dress?"

"Wedding dress?" Sans watched Undyne and Alphys both staring at the dress. "What?"

Alphys seemed to forget she was even talking to the King as Undyne and her came over and checked the Temmie dress. "Is that a dress by Bob? Did you tell her how to design it?"

"How in the world could a guy understand it this well. Especially you. Who helped you?" Undyne questioned him.

"Huh? Look, I don't have time for this." He started to dig into the small sweaters for Chance and looked for the socks. "Shoes, shoot! I need shoes for her too. Socks and shoes." He gathered a sweater, pants, socks, and some shoes. He was grabbing the dress and it's matching pants, when he heard a screech from Undyne and Alphys.

"No, no, no, don't wrinkle it!" Alphys insisted. "That's a custom Temmie wedding dress, you really must be careful!"

Okay. For one, it was weird to hear Alphys actually speak so loud and directly. For two, it was just a dress, not a wedding dress. For three, he was wasting time. Grabbing the dress again, he ignored the yell this time as he took off.

* * *

"Impossible." Flowey stared through the stain-glassed windows, getting the strange word Frisky and Chance had actually come back. "That's impossible. He wouldn't have done that. That's impossible!" But it was. It was the same dress. Sans didn't know a thing about anything. So, how? "He made a custom dress that was exactly the same?"

 ** _"_** ** _FRISK_** ** _used to say resets caused 97.5_** ** _percent of the memory to wipe out."_**

Flowey heard Chara's voice around him again. "Which is pretty much all. What's the point?"

 **"That leaves 2.5 that dwells inside."**

"I repeat," Flowey groaned. "Soooo?"

 **"Apparently her dress was important enough for his 2.5 to remember."**


	28. Monster Marriage Isn't Quite The Same

Sans teleported right back over to them with the clothes. "Here, Tori. Help them get these on."

"I know, I know. I am sure Asgore is just rushing everything, but healing takes time," Toriel said. "This isn't just hit points, the cold to human flesh is like a poison. The other healer and I will get there though. They will be more than ready soon. I don't think that so much public is needed right now. Plus, they should stay warm. We need them to stay warm. Most important." She moaned. "I know my children are so well-behaved, but I don't like leaving them away too long."

Sans laid the clothes on top of Frisky and Chance. "I have an idea." If he couldn't do it, the clothes would prevent them from getting hurt. The healer said that Chance had used his magic for warmth to save Frisky, so maybe Sans could do that too. It would give them some time to get Toriel's new kids. He placed his hands on the sets of clothes and watched a little bit of blue swirl around them.

"Yes, that's an excellent idea. That is incredibly warm," Toriel said as she moved to the other side. "Excellent. Let us go and get the other children. With the other healer and this, it should help more than enough while we are gone."

* * *

 _I was such a baby._ Frisky opened her eyes back up. She was in the warmest, comfiest bed she'd ever been in. How was that possible? Where was she? Chance wasn't beside her anymore. She saw Sans at the edge of her bed. _Humans took away almost everything he had, and I was about to do the same._ "Sans?"

Sans head popped up and looked at her. "You're awake."

"Yep."

"You didn't leave."

"No." She put her arms back out. "My Frisk friends came after me, but, I couldn't do it. I'd rather spend my life in shackles than take your own child from you."

"You know. Um, I hate promises . . . I do. I really, _really_ do. They tend to be tougher work than I like to put in in the end." He stood up. "So, I'm going to make the promise instead. I promise that if you just don't run away from this, and you stay with Papyrus and I, I'll do what I can to make sure you don't ever feel 'owned'. No shackles. No magic against you." He looked over toward Papyrus once.

Papyrus had a weird expression but shook his head yes.

"We can't commit to you anymore," Sans continued, knowing he couldn't just trick her. "Your little Frisk friends aren't really going to be welcomed around the place for a bit either," he said firmly, "cause uh, me and Pap? Yeah, we talked it out and we're a little upset with them." She nodded. "They left you with no protection. Whatever it was, it was saving your life."

"They left you with an absolutely, horrid, horrid Monster!" Papyrus spoke up. "Sans told me about that thing, and I-I-I, ugh! It saved you, but it's dead, so at least we don't have to thank it."

Oh, the Balancer. "It's dead?"

"It broke the rules of the board, and it deserved it!" Papyrus answered. "And! And that's all we're covering for _that_ because that was just . . . bad."

Sans held his bony finger up. "Oh, and uh, one more thing about those other FRISK's?"

Yeah, she heard the unpleasant sound in his voice.

"Yeah. Their little outburst changed everything. I have to marry you now," he finished.

Damn. Friskarino was right about the marriage. "How did you figure out where I was?"

"That little MP thing that Alphys had," Sans said. "It showed a teleporting alert."

"I thought so." She smirked. "That should have been hidden. Friskarino must have unhid it. That's probably why he left last too. I guess he didn't know about the lost protection kicking in that quick either."

Sans and Papyrus both shared a look. It looked like they were debating about something.

"So. Now I just willingly stand there and let myself get married?" Mm. "There is absolutely no way I can just agree to _stay_ without marriage? Contract or something? I-I don't know exactly how it works."

"Monsters don't work like that." Sans shrugged. "Sorry, I am. I know getting married to a guy like me probably wasn't in any of your future plans. But . . . you got a pretty outfit out of it?"

Outfit? Frisky looked down at herself. The first thing she noticed wasn't the outfit, but the blue mist around her. She had felt a lovely, cozy warmth all around her since she woke up. Blue. _Sans._ Sans' was using his magic for her, and not against her. He'd been warming the bed. She also noticed what he was referencing.

Her dress was white with special, dazzling snowflakes on the trim, but with a scent that reminded her of the mystic beauty of Waterfall. Above those were small echo flowers stitched into the dress itself somehow. Monster magic. It sure could make some incredible things.

"Speaking of that marry thing, we still need to do it. Soon," Sans said. "King Asgore isn't always a fuzzy pushover."

"Okay." As Frisky moved out of the bed though she watched Papyrus practically push her back in, unable to contain himself any longer.

"You came back, you really came back just for Sans!" Papyrus yelled with excitement. "I promise, human, you will not regret this! Oh sorry, Sister! Sorry, not human!"

"Papyrus, easy," Sans tried to move him back. "Calm down."

Frisky watched Papyrus rush Sans next for a hug.

"Okay, okay," Sans patted his back. "Plenty of time for hugging later. King Asgore is getting impatient, and bad things happen when he gets in a bad mood, so, let's get this done."

* * *

 **The Castle . . .**

"Now." King Asgore sat with Undyne in front in the same place they were having a committing in before.

Sans stood up straight as much as possible, following Papyrus' lead. For once, Frisky wasn't standing up so straight.

"Now, I know I heard this a bit before," King Asgore began. "How having a child without actually knowing about it shouldn't count, so on and so forth. And I know it is a miracle that the human came back on her own and will not need any kind of shackles for this ceremony. However . . . Sans the Skeleton. You were almost her brother and forfeited the knowledge of being your son's father."

Sans looked toward Chance being held by Frisky again. Still sleeping. He looked toward King Asgore. "The situation was awkward. I didn't really know what to do, Majesty."

"That is true, but there is a huge difference between father and Uncle. Do you understand that? There is also a large difference between brother and husband. These differences are massive in scale, and Monsters have fought and killed each other because of these differences in the past."

Sans stared at King Asgore. He knew going from commitment to marriage wasn't going to be a pleasing experience with how the king found out about it. "I understand that, Majesty."

"Uh huh. As much as I can sympathize with your plight, and I understand you have had a great deal of plight," King Asgore said once again. "You lied to me. Now, if the situation had not been cleared up, you would have only been the Uncle of your own child. The Uncle. You would have basically been denying your own blood's rights and knowledge to it's father."

This was not looking good. He would have told Chance eventually, but he couldn't tell King Asgore that. He would just get into more trouble. "I just want them safe," Sans tried to reason. "It's all new to me, Majesty. I don't _know_. I don't know how I'll do as anything, but, I just don't want to lose them."

King Asgore folded his hands, clearly in thought. "At the very least, you did quickly return to do the right thing. That is something I can't forget in this abundant display of errors. Honestly, had I not been here to see the grief you had felt when they were ripped away from you, I would probably forego this and send them with the second choice. After all, you _lied_ to your King."

"Um?" Alphys raised her hand from the corner. "Majesty? If I could just say a word?" She approached him. "I know Sans the Skeleton. I've spent time with him, and I can tell you, he didn't want to lie. But, h-he just found out in the cruelest way possible. By some data on a human device. Now, if he was cowardly, he did not need to pursue anything else. He could have pretended the data was fake. He didn't have to have a healing for the boy to find out the real truth."

"Which records show don't exist. Which you insist is because of this so-called "motion shift," King Asgore added. "After seeing the evidence on that device and our own skylines, it's hard to forget that fact."

"Not to mention, Sans the Skeleton, he did the difficult part for the barrier. _He_ was the one who gave us the power to put up our own. Remember?" She pointed out too. "Sure, he isn't perfect, but no one is. And, um, considering all that. Don't you think he's earned a wee bit of maybe a kind of . . . break?"

King Asgore patted one hand on top of the other. "A certain amount of boldness played a part in saving us. I have kept that secret from the public, but you did reveal it to me. Yet. As I said before, there is a huge difference between sister and wife. Son and nephew."

"Majesty?" Undyne stood up and walked over by Alphys. "As leader of the Royal Guards I have had the privilege of Sans being my Sentry for a long time."

"Which I see and have all records. Mishaps. Strikes against." King Asgore reached for the papers. "Which in all honesty is making me wonder if you will speak for or against him right now."

"Yeah, it's true he's not the best at . . . staying awake," Undyne said gently. "But, he is there when he needs to be. When I had a little snafu with the mother of his biological child, he handled it well."

"I remember talking about that incident. I would have killed you," King Asgore said. "I think any Monster would have at least tried to fight for that crime."

"Her identity and loyalty was unknown at that time. He did not know anything about the prisoners relation to him," Undyne continued. "Her back has no scars on it, I know that. I never asked but I'm fairly sure it wasn't Papyrus who healed her. We've gone over this. Then, there was the Ipeccaci Spaghetti. By your own orders, they would have died. He spent time and money to get them to a healer. I just want to bring these facts up again."

King Asgore rested one hand beneath his chin and tapped his fingers on the table in front of him. "Sans the Skeleton, Alphys and Undyne have put a lot on the line to vouch for you. They have given me solid facts and stories before you even came back."

"Oh, will you stop it and just agree already?"

Sans looked behind him and saw Queen Toriel, her four new kids in front of her.

"Stop poking your citizen. It's a marriage, not a permit to build a home or something," Toriel scolded him. "Honestly, Asgore."

"Tori?" King Asgore's royal demeanor seemed to fade away. "My beloved Toriel?"

"Mph." Toriel looked away. "I am here because I expect my children to get married today. I would never miss that." She looked back in front and toward Frisky. In her hand she held some echo flower wreaths. "As confusing as you two are, you are a part of the one I took special care for, and the one that helped me . . . helped me let go." She held the wreath above Frisky's head and placed it on her. "And my other child." She took a smaller wreath and placed it on Chance's head. "Because of you, even though I have new children, I have the courage to come away from the ruins with them as well. They won't be locked away due to my fears." She smiled at them lovingly. "I will just dispose of whatever tries to mess with them."

"I see," Frisky answered, not agreeing or disagreeing with her. "You're raising the conduits?"

"I am raising four," Toriel said proudly, gesturing to the children in front of her. "This strapping boy is Matt, that is Lucas, that is Patricia, and that is Margolia. All proper human names."

"They are conduits," King Asgore corrected her.

"Human."

"Conduit."

"Human."

"Conduit."

"Just agree already!" Toriel said in a great huff.

"Um. Of course I would have agreed," King Asgore finished. "I will allow this marriage to take place then. Undyne, please tell the humanologist standby that he will not be second choice."

Sans stepped back a bit. A humanologist? They already had a second choice waiting. Yeah, he really didn't have much time after all.

"Fine. Undyne, most of the committing requirements were the same, however, it is now just one taking care of them." King Asgore looked toward her. "Is it possible that he can do that?"

"If I adjust his work schedule, yes," Undyne answered.

"Well then, let us begin. Which location?"

"Snowdin is where he lives."

"Alright then. The most social place is Grillby's, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well then. We shall dismiss to Grillby's."

* * *

Frisky watched around her. She knew a Monster marriage wasn't supposed to be the same, but it felt more than slightly different. Not every Monster had the strength to travel great distances, or to teleport across the Kingdom, so to avoid family and friend issues, the marriage was held in the living location and most social area of the couple's residence. She forgot about that. _I can't believe I am actually getting married . . . in_ _Grillby's_ _._

A quick burger in Grillby's was one thing. Getting married there felt different. Especially once she remembered exactly how many Monsters Sans had been buddy-buddy with. A likeable Monster. Not only that, but marriages in the Underground weren't always a common occurrence. The Underground was only so big. Therefore. It felt awkward walking to Grillby's when rows of Monsters were lined up like a parade outside of it, cheering them on.

It didn't take long though as Toriel was scolding Asgore again for not remembering the human's condition. Then, she was quickly brought into Grillby's with Sans.

Inside, there was barely any room to move. Some of Sans friends called to him and he bantered and joked with them about everything. Frisky didn't care. Sans didn't get much time in the spotlight after all.

The next thing that surprised her though was Alphys, King Asgore and Undyne right behind Grillby's counter, with papers. Again. They were discussing GOLD content, fighting issues, nutrition, weather dialogues.

"Um, yeah, Frisky." Undyne called her over. "I need you to fill this out."

Frisky grabbed the pencil and looked at it. A list of things to cook? "What is this?"

"You need to know at least one dish if you're married," Undyne said. "Really, it's good to know like five. There's ten lines. You can add different varieties if you want to, too. Like, if you can make tomato spaghetti and cucumber spaghetti, it would be two different dishes. Just do your best."

Hm. "Why?"

"Why? Cause we'll know what kind of thing to send. For cooking." Undyne seemed surprised at her. "Don't worry too much, Sans can live off catsup alone. You have different nutritional needs though."

"Lots," Alphys added. "Make sure you put anything you can think of. The Underground probably can't do everything, but um, it could do anything? You never know what will line up."

Oh. In a minute, she handed it back to Undyne. "Here."

Undyne handed her another page. "Okay. See if there's anything else to add." Frisky did the same thing and handed it back again. "Anything else? Here." She handed Frisky about ten pieces of paper.

Frisky was far from a gourmet cook, but she took care of her and her son on the ship. When they weren't on missions, then they had to eat more accurately. They couldn't live off of Grillby's, hot dogs, Monster candy and astronaut food. Glamburgers and Steak were good, and so were other things, but they were far from the cry of protein and vegetable varieties humans needed. So, she did her best in adding everything. She had no idea what the Underground could actually provide. She had no idea how the food system worked.

But if she didn't give it her all, she was afraid she might be stuck with snail pie or something. That seemed to be Alphys point. Not the most appetizing dish to live on the rest of her life. Besides, she just . . . really _wanted_ Sans and Papyrus to have some good homemade food for once too.

French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, porkburgers, fish tacos, pork/beef/chicken/any kind of meat enchiladas, pork/beef/chicken burritos . . .

As she got going she just wrote the number of varieties because it felt like it was taking forever.

Tacos (3), pasta (over 10), macaroni and cheese (10), hot dogs (10), wings (2), Casseroles (at least 10).

It took awhile. She didn't want to get fancy with any hard dinners that she'd need recipes for so this had to do it. She just couldn't keep it up. Afterwards, she added a note about desserts (Desserts: Cakes, cookies, brownies, pies, ice creams. Many varieties.)

There. If there was any of her food that could be modified to fit, it would be much easier to live Underground. She gave the papers back to Undyne and went back over by Sans.

Undyne just looked at all the papers. She gestured for Frisky to come back over and had a whispered conversation. "Yeah, I thought so. Monsters don't usually eat so much variety."

"As long as I can get more than snails, I'll be happy," Frisky answered. "Any kind of meat, except snails, and I can substitute."

Undyne just gave her an odd look. "I see the history of your culture was still pretty accurate. You have a large base of nutritional needs." Undyne grinned. "You should open up a business when you're cleared for it in a year. Really bring in GOLD. It takes a long time for that kind of stuff though. Locations aren't always easy to find. You might actually be better off joining forces with Grillby. Heck, if Grillby knew this, he probably would have put in a bid for you too."

"Oh." Helping with the GOLD would be good, but Frisky knew where she was needed right now. The here and now was all that mattered. "I want to help detect intruding humans who are good or bad. I knew many of them. I would have an easier time identifying them, and their chances of going rogue."

"Pfffttt. You'll get all the chance you'll want. Didn't you know? You'll be next to Sans most of your day for the first three months. Gradually less after that. It's a Monster bonding thing, so, yeah. You're stuck like glue. Sorry. Try not to die from his puns." Undyne started stamping the papers. "Don't worry, he'll get stuck with bonding time with your kids too. I mean, kid." Undyne's eyes went over toward Alphys.

Hmm. "Kids aren't a bad thing," Frisky said, knowing that Alphys watching two of the conduits wasn't going to make it any easier for those two to get together. Undyne just gestured for her to head back over. Frisky looked over toward Chance in Papyrus' arms. He was starting to groan. _It's_ _okay_ _._ _I promise. No matter what happens._ _You'll be safe here._

"Alright Sans the Skeleton and . . ." Undyne looked toward Frisky. "Are we just going with Frisky still? Sans the Skeleton and Frisky have agreed to a mutual marriage, and not a hostile marriage. Right?"

"Yep," Sans answered. "No shackles or chains."

"That's the best kind! Good going, Sans!" One of his friends cheered for him in the crowd.

"Good." Undyne looked back at her papers. Undyne moved some papers to the sides as she looked back at Frisky. Undyne went by several more papers. "Okay. Uh, how old is the boy Papyrus is holding?"

Frisky began to answer. "He is-"

"Guess," Sans interrupted. Papyrus came over toward Undyne with him.

"He's small." Undyne picked up his arm.

"Very small still," King Asgore added. "I would say a good . . . two years? What say you, Undyne?"

"Hmmm. I could have sworn . . ." Undyne bit her lip.

Chance yawned and started to wake up. "Uh, hey, what's going on?"

"Not two at all. He speaks well." King Asgore approached Chance. "Hello there, little one? Do you know where you're at?"

Chance shook his head. "No. I was in the snow, then Sans saved us, and then I don't remember what happened."

"Nice sentence structure." King Asgore patted his head. "I'd say . . . eight? Seven?"

"Six," Sans confessed with a really heavy sigh. "He's six."

"Yes," Papyrus agreed, also with a heavy sigh. "He is about six."

"Yeah, I thought so. I could have sworn he spoke." Undyne sighed. "Sans."

"What?" Sans shrugged innocently. "Nothing wrong with a guessing game. Our family like puzzles. Right, Papyrus?"

"Right!" Papyrus agreed enthusiastically.

"Hmm."

Sans lowered his skull while Frisky looked toward King Asgore.

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" King Asgore asked Chance. Chance shook his head but groaned. "Good. Now, this isn't going to hurt at all, but it's very important for Monsters to be truthful. So, I am going to do something very simple to make sure you're a good boy and tell the truth. Okay?"

Wait. Questions? Frisky lost her relaxed state. _Fast._ "What questions? Why are you asking him questions? What kind of magic are you using?"

Everyone sort of looked at her funny. Sans took a step closer.

"Relax, it's just a high-level truth magic spell. Don't worry," Sans said. "King Asgore's not going to ask about the barrier or anything," he said. "Just, need to not . . . be so bold in front of the King? Kay?"

High level truth magic?! There was never any of that against the FRISK's! "No, I refuse."

Sans tapped his bony fingers together. "Uh, Frisky? You can't just say no to the King." He was definitely not happy with her. "He's going to do it to us too right before it becomes official, so you need to deal with it. Okay?"

"Why?" No.

"When we do that, it won't be in public. Okay? No one will overhear anything. Relax." He took a deep breath, glanced back at her a second before looking forward again.

Magic. Truth magic. No. _No, no, no._ Frisky felt her breath getting heavier. How strong was it? Exactly what would he say to the king? "Why?"

Sans looked toward the king, shrugged and chuckled. "Y-you know the boldness of humans, Majesty?" He turned to look at her again. "Kay. So. You're not _quite_ getting it. Um. Frisky? Marriage is going to happen. Monsters confess everything before marriage for a longer lasting marriage. Maybe it's not the human way, but that doesn't matter. It's not going to change but, there is something that _could_ change if you keep making King Asgore . . . not happy. Make peace. Stop. Okay?"

Frisky turned to face forward. Okay. Human marriage was much better now. Much, much better now! _I don't want to. I don't want to do this. Why is this so important? How come a marriage can't have secrets? Sans doesn't need to know this stuff! I don't want him knowing._ She felt herself tighten up. _When I was Frisk, I could hide better. Afterwards, I was so scared of him killing me_ _for Judgment Hall_ _that he didn't pick any of it up. Why? Why do we have to do this?_ She looked toward the back of Grillby's. _I made my choice. I can't leave. I don't want them knowing. I didn't want them to ever know!_ She squeezed her eyes shut as she started to hear the questioning begin.

"Let's try and see if that worked. Now, not feeling too well?" King Asgore patted his head. "Where's it hurt exactly?"

"It hurts all over," Chance said.

"Well. You Conduits are strong ones, aren't you? Okay, let's try again."

* * *

Sans watched Frisky fidget like crazy. He looked toward Papyrus. They usually didn't do it, but just like they pushed magic and tried to reach Chance, they could reach each other the same way. And Sans really wanted to say something, whether it wasted magic or not. _Pap? Frisky is not looking good._

 _Soul bearing might just be new to her? It's okay, Sans. Are you hiding anything?_

 _I don't know. I don't think I'm hiding anything she doesn't already kno_ _w. We went through a lot together. But, she interrupted the King constantly. She knows better than that. She didn't even reference him as Majesty and even said no to him._

 _Yes, I noticed that. Well, you'll know it all soon I suppose._

 _But, Pap? I mean, what do you think she's going to say?_

 _I don't know. I, I really don't know. But, but at least there won't be anymore secrets. You used to have so many yourself, Brother._

 _I know, and it's hard. It's really hard. The deeper they go, the harder it is. Pap, I never told you, but . . . I . . . for the longest time, being stuck in the resets, I . . ._

 _It's alright, Brother. I get it. Just, get through this, and we'll all go home happy tonight. I mean, she came back with Chance! Let's just get it done. This whole mess has already taken up the entire afternoon. Shortly after this, it will be bedtime, and the start of a new day! Let's be thankful for that._

 _You're right. New day. Thanks,_ _Paps_ _. You're the best._

* * *

Asgore pushed a little more magic into Chance. He had done three rounds of his truth magic and was still getting a vague answer. After the fourth try, he asked again. "Okay. You Conduits are _very_ strong little Monsters. Now, where does it hurt exactly?"

Chance breathed slowly. "My chest hurts, my stomach hurts, my eyes are so sore I can't keep them open, my right leg hurts, my right knee hurts, my right arm hurts, my throat hurts, and all my fingers hurt except for my left thumb."

"That's better," King Asgore smiled. "Let's begin. How do you like Sans the Skeleton?"

"Lots. He's cool."

"Do your mommy and him get along well?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you think he is a responsible fellow? Could he take care of you and your mom?"

Frisky noticed Sans looking a little nervous while some Monsters in the crowd chuckled and said things like 'this is over now'.

"Sans responsible?"

"Yes."

"Sans is the most responsible Monster I know. Without him, we'd be dead by now. What a weird question."

"Good to hear. Let me introduce myself. I am King Asgore. I rule the Underground," King Asgore continued to talk. "Don't be scared. I once had a human for a daughter."

"Oh. Well, I'm a boy. I hate it when people confuse me, but, I get it a lot because when I'm a conduit and a girl controls me, then I'm technically kind of like a girl. It's annoying."

"I am sorry to hear that," King Asgore said lightly. "Mankind was not very kind to you, were they?"

"Mankind is doing what it must to survive the viciousness of Balancers. While mankind created them, they are slaves to them. We have no say. We are rodents. We are worth nothing, and if a use isn't provided to a human, they will die." Chance coughed. "I'm not supposed to . . ."

"You should speak the truth," King Asgore said. "The more you struggle the harder it will be. Whatever it is, speak your mind."

Chance coughed again.

"That sensation won't disappear until you say what you need to say," King Asgore insisted.

Chance took long, drawn out breaths. "I'm not supposed to talk like . . ." He coughed again.

"There is no reason not to express yourself," King Asgore said delicately again. "Please."

"Balancers are bastards that should rot in the pits of hell for what they do to us." Chance coughed again.

"I see. Some very, _very_ strong feelings from a child. I am . . . going to take note of that." King Asgore said.


	29. Call For Help

"I see. Some very, _very_ strong feelings from a child. I am . . . going to take note of that." King Asgore said. "Hmm. Old enough to understand things. Six years old is usually the right age." He rubbed his beard. "Hmm . . . twelve months."

"Twelve months?!" Papyrus shouted. "But, but, they don't even know each other that well!"

"Interruption? Nine months."

"Ni-!"

"Pap, don't!" Sans tried to stop him as he tugged on him. King Asgore was probably frustrated enough with Frisky's interruptions. He really wasn't too bad of a king, but he could only stand so many interruptions. And he was getting-

"Six months."

Mad.

"Asgore," Toriel scolded him. "That is not nice. I know it is six years old, but they need some time to get to know each other. Forget the interruptions. Give them the standard year, and maybe another half."

"It is based by how many Monsters are in the Underground," King Asgore reminded her. "There are still only two. Two, in the entire Underground, there are only two."

"Um? Well, uh, the kid'll be becoming one too very soon?" Sans added. "That's why he's hurting."

"Well. Considering the circumstances, and perhaps that there are almost three, _maybe_ I could stick with a year."

"Can't you extend more? Give them time?" Toriel asked. "Sans should get more time. This is all a very big change for him and his brother, Papyrus."

"Change?" Asgore came over closer. "What do you mean a 'change'? You knew the bride. You're here for her."

"I am here for him too. He is my friend," Toriel insisted. "A good friend, who will make a much more excellent husband than _you_ ever did."

King Asgore turned his attention to Sans. "How did you know my wife?"

Sans looked to Toriel and back to him. He felt something wrong. "Through a knock-knock door, Majesty."

"Yes, Grumpy. Don't get so mean." Toriel rolled her eyes. "I met him some time ago through my door. He was knocking and before you know it, we were telling jokes."

"Jokes?" King Asgore bent down to Sans level so fast, Sans moved back involuntarily. "You have been telling knock-knock jokes with Toriel?"

"Some?" Sans said, _really_ picking up that this wasn't good. "Something wrong, Majesty?"

"He stopped by almost every day to share a joke. It was nice."

"You told my queen, _my_ queen . . . knock-knock jokes every single day?"

"Sometimes?" Sans didn't get it. He'd seen King Asgore fine with him during the ending right before they hit the surface timelines. What was wrong? _Okay, what is different. Let's see. Okay,_ _Toriel_ _fought_ _Asgore_ _._ _Asriel_ _. Quick chatting. Wait, did_ _he_ _not hear our chat?_ _No, he had to have. But, he was . . ._ Sans realized he'd never looked back to see the king. But what, what was it? Something, something, something . . .

 ** _"Don't worry_** ** _Asgore_** ** _, there's more fish in the sea."_**

Sans suddenly remembered Undyne said that! He didn't even think or care what that meant at the time, but as the king was staring him down, he was getting the hint. Quick. This wasn't good.

King Asgore moved over toward Frisky. "Knock. Knock."

"Um. Who's there?" Frisky asked.

"Three months."

"Three months who?"

"I don't know yet. That is up to you to name it." Asgore pointed at her stomach and patted her head.

"Three months? That is completely ridiculous!" Toriel complained. "You had better change that back."

"Are you coming home?"

"No."

"You have been gone, left me, without a word for _so long_. And now I find that you've been joking around with another Monster this _whole time_?"

"Sans jokes around with everyone!" Papyrus tried to recover.

"Majesty, really?" Sans held up his hands. "Sir, I-I joke. I like to joke. I joke with everyone! Um, this is not really the way to go?

"In three months, your lovely wife should have a small Skeleton ready to add to our wonderful population. If you want an extension, Toriel will have to convince me. Personally. Except, she won't. She hasn't even _bothered_ to come and see me in so many, many years. And, she is only here, now because . . ."

"Big baby," Toriel complained.

"Not. Helping. Tori," Sans warned her. King Asgore clearly wasn't happy that Toriel just stepped into his life because of them, not for himself. _Yeah, that's it_ _!_ _It was one thing when she did it for FRISK, a cute little kid,_ _but he thinks she's here because of me too. And then he probably thinks_ _I'm l_ _ike_ _the guy that_ _kept her happy?_ _Like, keeping her happy kept her away_ _from him_ _?_

And without feeling the _shame_ of the calling out of Toriel about the human souls and trying to take FRISK's life . . . and **_especially_** being watched by his own people in his own element of ruling . . .

This wasn't going to end half as spiffy.

Sans looked over at Frisky to see how she was taking the news. He didn't know the exact reason, but whatever the situation was, the King and Queen needed to sort it out themselves because three months couldn't happen! He needed much . . . _wait_.

Wait.

Frisky had to have understood that. But, she was just doing the same light fidgeting as before. Nothing more. Nothing less. That news should have sparked a gasp, another talking out of term, or something. At least, a different tremor or reaction.

"This matter is over," King Asgore announced. "Frisky, Sans the Skeleton, and I will reconvene to the privacy of the castle for the soul bearing and shall return shortly."

"I wish to go too," Toriel said nodding to Alphys. "My friend will watch my Conduits a moment."

"Fine. You are **_still_** the Queen, after all. We shall all _four_ go to the privacy of the castle," the King reiterated.

* * *

Frisky moved her feet up and down. Toriel had her hand on her shoulder while King Asgore was over in a corner with Sans. _I can't do this. This is sooo dangerous. I can't tell him though. Damn it, I need my Frisks. I know they would come, if they were still here. Small little miracle? Please, please, please. Maybe if they get tired of pushing? Maybe it's like a mindwipe. If it is, maybe I can hold them off long enough that they'll give up because I can't. I just can't._

"Frisky. My dear?" Toriel whispered. "I can tell that something is very _wrong_ , which is why I want to be here. It's going to be okay! Now, um, truth magic can be hard to take. Very innermost feelings do come out, and it doesn't always come out perfectly right. So if Sans says anything that seems out of character or rude, please dismiss it. And, and don't worry. All Monsters go through this. Considering what happened, remember, they are his unhinged feelings. He himself is very hinged, and . . . and a good fellow."

Frisky touched her paw. _First, Refuse. Second, Dilemma. Third, call out for help. Fourth, song that sticks in the head_ _._ "That bad, Toriel?" _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._ While Toriel did her little explanation she would work between, training her mind. _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._ _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._

"Well, you see, when Monsters who have no reason to have to get married go through this, sometimes they discover that they . . . they don't really want to go through with it after a soul bearing. This process saves a lot of Monsters grief. From love to secrets that they just can't handle. But, you can do this. It won't take long. Okay?"

Frisky held her paw tighter. "Toriel. I'm . . . not good with this." _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._

"It's okay. Here they come. Don't worry either, it's not like endless secrets. The questions need to be more direct. Okay?" She gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before watching her meet Sans in the middle of the room.

"It feels like a tickle in the ear," Sans chuckled. "Okay, let's get this thing over with."

"Name?" King Asgore asked.

"Sans the Skeleton."

"Alright, Sans the Skeleton. Do you have anyone you've ever loved before?"

Sans looked up almost twitching. "I don't think so."

"That's a weird answer," King Asgore said. "He is fully beneath it."

"Love is a tricky thing," Toriel insisted. "Go on."

"What is it you want out of life?" King Asgore asked him.

"I just want to live. I just want to live with Papyrus and just go on with my life like nothing bad ever happened inside of it."

Yeah. _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._ Frisky could see what Toriel meant about the honesty.

"And what would you consider was bad?" King Asgore asked him.

"Finding out humanity has been doing nothing but playing around with me and my family for starters. Not only did they hide the sky from us, but I mean, how would anyone feel about suddenly finding out they had a kid too? A kid?! I mean, a six-year-old kid, out of the blue. Just found it waiting on an MP." He shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "And this kid was okay. Not evil or bad, just okay. Not the greatest thing Underground. Just okay. It's not like we had this real close connection or I thought he was somehow special. Just a kid, just a regular kid. Fun little kid. But then, this regular kid turns out to be my kid. So now, it ain't so regular anymore. Is it? I mean, it's still the same kid. I still get along with it the same way. But, it's just that, I am going to suck as a dad. I don't remember anything about even my own dad. I do get along great with kids. I'd be a good Uncle, I know that, but dad? Man, I am going to screw that poor kid up. But, Papyrus. Papyrus can help out though. He would have made a way better dad. I wish Papyrus had been the dad, and I could have been the Uncle. Because my brother, Pap. Best guy ever. He never hides secrets. He's always honest. Always shares his feelings. A really emotional but awesome guy who's always there. He would have been much better."

Damn. The pure honesty. _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._ Frisky knew it, of course, but Sans was never that direct about it.

"Okay. Well, is there any big secret you are hiding from Frisky?" King Asgore asked. "You said earlier you didn't have anything."

"Nope, not a thing. How could I? I mean, heck, I couldn't even be in my own house without being viewed by some human in my life. She remembers more of my life than I even do. I don't even know when we first met except for a couple of glimpses in her head. Nope, she knew everything." He rocked back on his heel bone. "Everything, everything, everything. I used to hide the whole committing thing from her, but that's yesterdays news anyhow thanks to the other damn parts of FRISK that screwed the whole thing up. I mean, it would have been much better. Like I said, I'd be a better Uncle than a dad. We could have all just been good roommates, you know? It would have been fine, but oh no. FRISK just had to mess around with my life again. They were good at that. Whole or parts. Frisk just can't stay out of my life."

"Do you want the conduit FRISK out of your life?" King Asgore asked directly.

"I sure as hell want the whole FRISK thing out of my life! It just brought up reset after reset after reset! Life stopped even mattering. I mean, it was okay sometimes. It was fine. I even helped it out when I could, but, that thing was always half evil too. I mean, I didn't know if I was going to be meeting an okay kid that day, or a killer that had already taken out everything in its path. But whether it was good or bad, it just kept resetting my life. Nothing new. No way to escape. And I tried to escape, I did everything I could to escape, but it was always the same thing over and over again."

"Well, what about all of the Frisks?" King Asgore asked.

All of the Frisks? Not all of them. I don't mind the good parts of Frisk. I sure as hell downplayed it when I took out PERSEVERANCE. That little piece of nothing killed my Brother and all my friends so many times! And then when it mattered, when the resets stopped, he had the gall to come back and try to finish him! No, I _enjoyed_ watching it get shish kabobbed and finally just staying there completely lifeless. I don't know about everyone though. I met one Frisk on board a ship and I didn't even see her live long enough to know her. But the others, I am _not_ happy with them. At all! I mean, at least one of them was supposed to be an okay friend. Right? But, here they come. They took away so much, and they just had to try and take away the last of my own flesh and blood! Mine! I lost a whole lot, so much, so so much, and they try to take the very last thing that I had! So, yeah! Not much love there. It sounds like there was _one_ that was actually on my side. Don't know him for him, but I'd probably give him the benefit of the doubt. Frisky is okay. Frisky is great actually. Frisky is really great actually. I don't know why she's so great. It bugs me too 'cause I hardly know her. She's not the other Frisks that I know. There wasn't a single Frisk I know that would have come back after being 'rescued'. They would consider that not winning, but she did it. She put me first even above herself. Really, _really_ hard to believe, but it was true. So, I'm still working out how I feel about that. But, there's something to her too. I keep sensing something that I don't understand about her. I don't know what it is, and it kind of drives me crazy."

Toriel bent down to her. "That is . . . actually not half bad of a reaction underneath truth magic, believe it or not. He might remember some of what he said, but most of it will be more like a dream or a dim memory."

"Well. I would say that's pretty good for you," King Asgore answered. "The truth will fade away after a few minutes. And then." King Asgore looked toward Frisky. "We'll do you."

* * *

 _No way, I am not speaking the truth. I refuse. No way. I'm not._

King Asgore placed his hands on her. "What is your name?"

 _I won't even trust myself to open my mouth. Not even for that. Nothing._ _Refuse. Dilemma. Help. Song Stick._ _Ready._ _I refuse. I refuse!_

* * *

Sans hung out in the corner by Toriel. "She's fighting it hard, Tori. Really, really hard."

"She won't even say her name," Toriel agreed. "She is on six doses already. I fear she has some very dark secrets. You should prepare yourself for anything."

"Geez." Sans shook his head. "I still can't believe I said all that. Did I really just say my own kid was just an okay kid and that I'd suck at being a dad to King Asgore?"

"It's alright. It's your innermost feelings," Toriel answered. "That's why it's so important to have a soul bearing though. The truth is always exposed. It's too bad humanity does not have this. It would stop so many bad things, reveal the darkness hiding inside. Of course, it's still not perfect," she muttered. She sighed. "When she hits her limit, oh . . . there is a phrase once used on the surface. Sorry. Habit. I mean used beyond the barrier. It was . . . aw, yes. When she hits her limit, she is going to 'sing like a canary'. Unbridled. I wish I knew what haunted her so."

* * *

 _I refuse! I refuse! I refuse! I refuse!_

"Name?" King Asgore asked directly again.

 _I refuse! I refuse! I refuse! I refuse!_

King Asgore forced more magic on her. "Honestly, human. Give in. By this rate, you won't even remember a thing you share. You'll just go off. You need to stop. This is a part of the marriage ceremony and it will happen. Name."

 _I refuse! I refuse! I refuse! I refuse!_

"Name."

 _I refuse! I refuse! I refuse! I refuse!_

"Name! I want your name!" King Asgore pressed even more magic into her. "By everything the crown stands for, what are you hiding?" He pushed more magic into her.

"Asgore, settle down." Toriel came over to him. "Be gentle, she is human."

"I understand, Tori," Asgore said slowly. "But, I've already put in fifteen rounds of magic. Most would be ready by three. Sans was done by two. I could understand the Conduit taking so much, but a mere human?" He rubbed his head. "Name?"

"I don't know . . ."

"We might be ready." King Asgore smiled. "What is the name that you are using for your wedding?"

"I don't know . . . how . . ."

"How to what?" King Asgore asked again.

"I don't know . . . how . . . to do it. Like this. In this condition . . ."

"How to do what in what condition?" King Asgore asked again.

"She is leading the questioning," Toriel warned him. "Very smart."

"Ah, yes, I see." King Asgore stroked his beard. "I ask again. What is the name that you are using for your wedding?"

"I don't know how to do it. Like this. In this condition . . . how will they . . ."

* * *

Another five minutes into it and King Asgore just had his head sunk. "This is getting us nowhere." Each time he asked something, she would continue with the same phrasing, almost like he asked for it. It was just a little added at a time, with the repetition faster in the front.

"She will eventually run out of whatever she's trying to say," Toriel insisted. "My, she is a smart one. She must have been prethinking these thoughts before the magic."

"Told you, she's got determination to spare," Sans joked. "Seriously, Frisky. This is getting a little . . . annoying?"

"Alright, let's continue. We will eventually reach this end." King Asgore sighed. "Name?"

"I don't know how to do it. Like this. In this condition. How will they find each other like this? Undyne should send the letter. She came after me during the pretend date timelines and always said she should have delivered the letter. Why didn't Undyne give her the letter without me? How am I supposed to . . . get them . . . back . . . together."

"Is that it?" Toriel asked.

"I hope so," King Asgore sighed. "Name?"

"36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320. 36320 . . ." Her chanting continued of the same rolling numbers over and over.

Sans just closed his eye sockets. This was getting ridiculous. She may have secrets to hide, but she couldn't keep it up forever.

"Told you not to hug the- huh?" Right in front of King Asgore, Sans, and Toriel stood someone about Frisky and Sans' size. The strange human looked behind her at Frisky still chanting her number. "Oh, hell no!" She pulled out her MP and . . .

Engaged an encounter.

King Asgore, Queen Toriel and Sans just stared at her. Did a human really just engage all three of them at once?

Right beside her, a guy showed up. Same size.

"What the . . ." He stared at the strange human woman. "You did **_not_** just force an encounter with freaking royalty and Sans, Friskay!"

"Look at her, Farrisk!" Friskay shouted gesturing to Frisky in the chair.

Kay. Wedding day not going so well now. Sans just . . . tried to stay relaxed. "It's the Frisks. In person. Great. Say, um? Could you just _go_ now?"

"You wish, dweeb," Friskay spoke back. "What are you doing to our Frisky?"

Sans looked surprised. She should be using the buttons. "You really shouldn't do that. You can't break board rules."

"Until someone actually fights, that rule doesn't exist in the encounter area Friskay sat up," Farrisk said back. "So, let's just talk, huh? It's obvious you are trying some kind of memory thing to Frisky, but you can't."

"It is part of the ceremony," King Asgore said. "It's tradition and it must be done."

"Yeah, um." Sans couldn't deal with it much longer. "Look, little Frisk's. Not so happy with any of you right now. Really should just leave already."

"Sure, why not? Then after the fact when you find her brain damaged, you going to blame us, Skullhead?" Friskay asked. "Frisky called to me, meaning she's in trouble!"

And great, another Frisk showed up. Same size, along with another . . . well, a taller Frisk.

The big one shouted loudly in a bad piercing sound to the skull. It was that human thing, music, up super loud.

"Keep going and that's what's going to happen," Friskay pointed to the singing girl. "Go ahead. Try and interact with her. That's Friskeye, otherwise known as HONESTY. She used to be just like us. Now look at her. She's what Frisky will be if you keep going."

"Now, now." The other guy tried to pat Friskay's arm. "Let's all settle down."

"Screw you, Friskarino! You're the one that lost track of Frisky and Frisk!" Friskay shouted. "Grab her and let's go. We'll find the kid later."

"No."

It wasn't a scream or a yell, but the Frisk's could easily tell Sans wasn't kidding around. His eye sockets went devoid of any light.

"Beat. It. Now."

"Would if we could, but we can't. I know you're not happy with us taking Frisky before," Friskarino began. "She deserved to make a choice without chains though. And, when she made that choice, it was better? Yeah? We aren't here to destroy your marriage. Frisky made her decision and it's cool. But, you don't know what's hiding in her mind. Now, I know you can't get married without knowing, but you don't want brain damage either? Right?"

"This is a simple magic truth telling," King Asgore spoke up. "Everyone handles it just fine. Even children."

"Yeah, but, Frisky's head. It ain't right no more because of what happened to her." Friskarino looked straight at Sans. "Honestly, if she's asking for our help, she is falling into a bad place _fast_. And trust me, if you care about her, you won't do it. Let us help you."

"She's freaking getting married to a Skeleton," Friskay complained.

"It's her choice," Friskarino told her. "She made the decision. We aren't taking her anywhere. We just need to help Sans know the truth. That's what it's about, right?"

Well. Maybe _that_ Frisk was okay then. Sans adjusted his eye sockets again to a more peaceful level. "What's wrong with Frisky?"

Friskay, Friskarino and Farrisk all looked at each other.

"I don't like it," Friskay said.

"Frisky needs to get married. There has to be a soul bearing and . . ." Friskarino looked toward Sans. "I really think it'd be good for him to know everything." Friskarino sighed. "If you let us do this a little differently, then . . . we'll help. You've got to do a couple of things though." He looked to Asgore and Toriel. "Just me and Sans."

"What?" King Asgore didn't like that.

"Look, I know." Friskarino held his hands up in defense. "But this marriage isn't about Royalty knowing anyhow. And, there's no magic involved. It really should just be Frisky and Sans, but they do need the one who knows the secrets. I was a part of FRISK. I know everything about her. Friskay and Farrisk knows too, but . . . I don't think Friskay would cooperate."

"Hell no!"

"Farrisk could I mean-"

"Nah, you." Sans remembered what Frisky said about the teleporting alert. "This better not be a trick."

"I understand," Toriel answered. She looked toward Asgore. "It is a new situation. She is human in a Monster marriage."

"Fine." King Asgore sighed. "Hurry it up, and then we can continue."

"Great. Now, Frisky probably has a lot more magic jammed in her than she should because she wasn't falling for the truth, right?" Friskarino started. "Yeah, that's not good. So, we need to make her feel safe. Do you know where there is a closet? Preferably big enough for three people. She'll be better off in a dark, enclosed space."

Sans thought back to when he told her about the committing. She crawled under the bed. Yeah, he'd have to play the Frisk's game if he was going to get this done. "Papyrus has a closet."


	30. Manifested Tears

Sans took a shortcut straight through to the closet with Friskarino, him and Frisky.

"That's better." Friskarino smiled. "Dark spaces are where we make last minute decisions, and improves our chances to live. She'll be better here." He leaned against the closet. "Alright. Now, I could just blurt stuff out but you'd never know if I was telling the truth or not. You could judge me, I guess, but doesn't Monster truth magic have a thing where you can do the opposite to make it come off?"

"You mean the truth?" If Sans said the secrets she kept where she could hear, it should. He was starting to get it a little now. "Not used much, but yeah. The magic'll come off with that. So, let's get this done."

"Sure. And, I know you're irritated about this," Friskarino sighed. "And I wish I could tell you by the end that's all your going to feel." He fidgeted. "Okay, a lot of stuff is from records that we know, because that's all she knows. Her mind has been wiped so many times. And, unfortunately, she reached her peak. From this point on, anything else done to her brain will slowly eat away at her until she's just like the singing girl you saw. So." Friskarino held up four fingers. "We can probably narrow everything down to four secrets. Well, three, but I think we better cover the first one anyway. It's a nice way to get this started."

"Sure, let me just get some candles and a pillow." Sans sighed. "It doesn't matter however you sugarcoat what you have to say. Let's just get it said. King Asgore doesn't always have patience and he's had it up to here with me lately." Sans raised his arm above his head. "Okay?"

"Sorry. Okay, well the first is pretty easy. I'd bet every finger on my hand Frisky didn't tell you about the training ships." Friskarino looked toward him. "You probably chose PACIFISTS to live, right? I don't know exactly, but training ships are roulette's. When soldiers are trained, they change from month to month. So, you don't have all PACIFISTS, and you didn't rescue them all. It was just a draw of destiny of who was assigned PACIFIST that month. Oh, and even the final permanent status. It's decided for you too."

Sans took a slightly deep breath. "Well, I couldn't have done anything different. Even knowing that, I probably would have done the same thing."

"Yeah. Don't tell me, tell her. Address her and let her know the secret you know."

"Fine." Sans stood really close to her. "Frisky, I know about the training ships now. Really wouldn't have made much difference to me." He saw her rigid body lose just a touch of it's rigidness but not much.

"Great. So, back to that no choice thing about sides?" Friskarino said. "Yeah, we don't get the final say on permanent either, but your actions in training usually fit a decent side. Frisky however wasn't PACIFIST she was a NEUTRALIST."

"A NEUTRALIST?"

"Yep, but she knew her poor kid. Um, well, your poor kid would be going through some bad missions on a neutral side. So, she acted. She lied to the girl next to her. Spoke loud enough for her to overhear Frisky say your son's sanity wouldn't survive GENOCIDE. The girl flipped Frisky her card and took Frisky's but was caught. Except, she wasn't just _any_ girl. Before snapping her neck, her loving teacher told her the identity was her sister. He even tossed her sister's MP to her so she could get to know what little of her she ever could through it."

"Whoah." Oh, that was bad. He remembered Chance saying something about that. "Chance said his mom never told him much about her." That was why. She didn't know much about her in the first place. He came over to Frisky. "Hey? Frisky? Yeah, uh . . . I'm sorry about your whole sister thing. I know you didn't know her, but I bet it still hurt. And, I know because of how you acted it happened, but you did what you thought was right. You wanted Chance on PACIFIST." He shrugged. "Honestly, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing."

Her body seemed to relax more. She almost needed help standing up now.

"Okay. This next one? Is tough. I'm not saying much more than the basics to give you directions to the truth." He pulled out his MP and put in some codes. "Sorry."

That definitely wasn't good. Sans took the MP and looked at the charts on it. "What's this?"

"Dates are mindwipes. You can think of them like resets, except the environment doesn't change, and it eventually has repercussions on the brain. Frisky went through several mindwipes as well as all of us to survive our sanity against the different timelines and resets. But, _those_ are full mindwipes you see labeled. It doesn't just take out a 'timeline', it takes out everything. You literally wake up not knowing anything about yourself. You've got your same skills, but nothing else. Your mind feels like a complete rookie, even if you've been fighting for years."

Mindwipes. Sans scrolled through. There were a lot. In between the mindwipes were other phrases. Experimental. Budding. Disciplined Action. "I got a good brain but this doesn't make sense."

"Failed missions, Sans. Things happen for everyone when they fail. It's all bad, but girls, well, they add to the populace."

"Hm?"

"Every time a female soldier fails, they get disciplined until they get pregnant."

" . . . hm?"

"It's just as bad as it sounds. Frisky failed twice. Neither of them made it to a born status. But, Balancers don't _want_ regular humans. We're just rodents. They want conduits especially, but they always need re-resets, so after it's conceived, well, you see the word experiment."

What. Sans looked back at the charts again. After every discipline, there was a mindwipe. Constantly.

"They keep full mindwiping so a soldier's mind stays too rookie and can't-"

"Shut up." The same number next to Discipline kept showing up. And he could guess by the 'names' of the Frisks what that was. There were three separate charts. One of them had no numbers on the side and was successful. That must be Chance. The others though kept having an identical number.

" . . .mmm . . . let me know when you're ready to go on."

Sans kept flipping through the charts. Not that it would do anything. What he saw wasn't going to change. It wasn't going to reset to something happy like 'does not exist.' "Ch-Chance is different."

"Yeah, I know. Honestly, the furthest data back on Frisky that I can find is when he was already 8 months. So, that was a different branch of things. Trust me. The others weren't yours. They were 04823's. Best Friend to the PERSEVERANCE you fought, but assigned to be a PACIFIST teacher. He was actually Underground for a short time. Left her sister's MP in a Temmie shop along with a Hoodie, just to goad her about the mission failure. Especially since it had been many years. Chance was practically a baby back when things were bad." He looked back toward Sans. "He was also the same guy who killed her sister."

Sans really wasn't moving. He was still just staring and studying the charts.

"Uh. You know, Mankind and Balancers, we've evolved a long time, so . . . the ways of getting pregnant aren't really physical. That's the slow, amateur way. I mean, I can't say it for sure, I can't get into those kinds of files easily, and I really don't want to know."

Sans still wasn't moving. He was still just watching the charts.

"So did Frisky ever tell you about a guy called Conner?" His eye sockets shot toward him. Devoid of any light. Not a surprise, but still chilling nonetheless. "He's not 04823. Just to let you know if you think there's a connection." Sans' eye sockets moved back down to the charts. "But, if anything ever happens and Frisky gets pulled away, there's a good chance she'll go to him. When she accepts a subservient role to a higher soldier. Mm, that's why he has a name? Well, she loses her chance at freedom but she doesn't have to participate in missions anymore. Neither would Chance."

Friskarino sighed again. "You need to . . . you need to tell her that you know. Or, did you want the last thing?" No real answer. "Fine. Uh, if anyone ever gets through that barrier or it breaks, I wouldn't doubt if Frisky either goes to Conner or just kills herself. Because hell is waiting for her. See, they used to be able to _see_ down here. They have no idea what's going on, so, if word ever gets out that she's not chained up and she's actually happily living in harmony in the same house as some Monsters, it's going to get bad. If a pregnancy was a failed mission, I don't want to know what would happen for that offense if they bag her alive. And that? That's why . . . everyone wanted her and Chance away. Chance is a cute kid but he's a freaking weapon ready to go off. You know that. And, well, Frisky is going to get punished _really_ hard if anything happens. So. So seriously!" He shouted at Sans. "You take damn good care of Frisky. Because she is DETERMINATION, has a lot in store but it comes from massive amounts of love for the kid. Everyone gets a choice with their first born conduit what to do, and she wouldn't leave. Women soldiers have dreamed of getting a conduit instead of a re-reset just so they could leave, but she never did that. So, please. Please watch out for her, she's like our sister, and out of all of us Frisks she is the most tender. Got it?"

He moved over toward Sans. "Here, I need my MP and I'll take off. You can do this however you need to, and make it back to your own wedding. Sorry again, Sans. I'm sure she never wanted anyone to know anything, but. Well, you guys were going to fry her again, and she can't take much more before hitting the insanity zone but . . . she wasn't going to run." He still held his hand out. Sans finally gave it to him. He started to search on his MP. "We're stuck here too. So, if you need help, you already saw what to do. We automatically come when our numbers are chanted over and over from our comrades. MP 9's and up are set up that way." Yeah, he wasn't going to say anything else. If Sans even slightly cared for Frisky, then he had a lot to take in. "Bye, Sans."

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. "Guess um . . . I ain't got no choice in any of this? No resets. No going back or anything on all that past stuff. Well, and . . . this is like one of the times you'd really, really, really want to. So." He pulled her over closer. "That. It's. I'm so freaking sorry, Frisky!" He brought her closer into a hug.

He was hurting. He was hurting so much, he swore he had actually attained some kind of physical heart or chest. "How could anyone ever do that to you?" Damn. The price of a failed mission. Treated like nothing but meat to create more fighters. More sacrificed resets. "Promise, I promise. This is it. Me and Papyrus, we're going to take the best care of you and I really, really mean it! And I don't really, really know what else to say! Cause it won't change anything! Just, um. Just."

That was weird. Frisky's dress was getting wet where he laid his skull. It took a moment to realize he manifested something. Something he needed.

Tears.

Picking his broken self back up, he stood next to Frisky. "Now I get why you always had to be a perfect soldier. All the time. You know. If I had been the Frisk's I think I would have done the same thing they did after all. Especially since you had your freedom. Instead, you came back, and you're scared about how long that barrier is going to hold. You'd go through some kind of torment if you got caught and you did it. Just . . . just so I could keep Chance." He wiped his tears on his tux. "You're way too good for me. I'm not worth this much. I'm just a lazy guy who likes to tell jokes. Although, jokes kind of went south. Nothing's felt funny for some time now."

He sighed and held her on the side. He still had to address it. "Frisky. I know that if the barrier fails, hell is waiting for you on the other side." Her body became loose and he continued to hold her. "Frisky. I know that 04823 fathered two unborns and he is who you face when you fail a mission. If you get pulled out and survive that hell, you're going to go to some guy named Conner that bugs Chance, or you might actually just get yourself killed." She slid down more. "I know that my anger toward humans is really not what I thought it was. I know you humans keep saying Balancers, but I don't think I _got it_ 'til now. And, even though Chance is my own kid, and I'd never put him through what they made him to be? I can . . . see why they did it. This thing ain't so cut and dry anymore between humans and Monsters."

He actually started to hear her breathe, like she was just lightly asleep. As much as he didn't want to right now, they were still in the middle of getting married. He had already made King Asgore mad enough and it couldn't be postponed. "Welp. I guess we better finish this." He couldn't address anything. Yet. There wasn't time yet, and he had to stay cheery for the wedding, or she'd know and feel horrible the whole time. And it didn't do any good to mess up on something that happened years ago. Yet.

Even though he couldn't do anything yet though. He felt something. He felt something deep inside that he hadn't felt in a long, long time and he knew three things for a fact:

Friskarino was a _damn_ good part of Frisk for going through that for Frisky.

Frisky thought she was risking hell just so he could stay with Chance.

Frisky wasn't risking hell because he would _become_ hell if anyone ever touched her or Chance.

 ** _Ever._**


	31. And Flowey Makes Five

Frisky blinked, feeling herself come back around. She didn't remember anything, but she was standing right in the middle of the ceremony again. She looked toward Sans and Papyrus. They seemed fine. _What did King_ _Asgore_ _ask? What do they know_ _about me_ _?_

Undyne was in the front with Alphys and Asgore again. She was looking at papers. "Okay. We're about done. I need to give you some papers and we'll do affirmations in a second."

Affirmations? What was that? _Did I say anything at all?_ Toriel looked fine, and she figured if anything fell out of her mouth, she wouldn't look half so calm. _Maybe it wasn't really that bad. They never asked Chance the right questions. They must not have asked the right questions._ Thank goodness. She felt her whole body feel so much better.

"Alright," Undyne answered. "Affirmations?"

"I got this, no worries." Sans stepped forward. He looked toward Papyrus knowingly, throwing his hands up in a shrug. "I promise not to pun her to death. No more than fifty puns a day." Papyrus gave a thumbs down. "Twenty puns? Not twenty puns every _single_ day?" He finally got a thumbs up and looked toward Undyne. "I promise to bring in the GOLD needed." He looked at his bony fingers. "I promise to follow all the rules on the do and don't list. I promise to keep them at a safe temperature. I promise to try and balance their nutrition thing."

While Undyne wrote that down, she gave him the do's and don'ts lists. "Alright, take these and it's time for the last part."

"Oh. That's a lot of papers." He picked up the papers and brought them over. "Almost done, Frisky. Just one more thing."

Okay. No problem. No big deal. Frisky probably didn't know a thing. _But hang on, does_ _Undyne_ _?_ He looked toward Papyrus who was shrugging his shoulders too. There were so many types of Monsters, maybe she didn't know either? Sans just leaned over to Frisky and gestured toward his bony cheek. "I need a quick kiss." Frisky kissed him real quick. "Great, we're done."

Undyne looked nonplussed at that. She looked toward Asgore and Alphys. Both of them knew it too. "You think we didn't know?" Undyne walked toward Sans. "Come on. A little bit of humility never hurt anyone. It isn't over until you do this, so get it over with."

"Hey, this'll be interesting, Sansy-boy!" One of the regular patrons yelled. "How does a Skeleton kiss? Does anybody know?"

"I don't know, but go Sans!"

"Umm." Papyrus moved over to Undyne. "Can I have a brief word?"

"Can't change this," Undyne warned him.

"No, no, obviously, but a small word?" Papyrus went over to the corner with her.

* * *

Chance blinked his eyes, slowly waking up. He felt a lot better.

"Look, the rules are clear, Papyrus. Sans is going to have to deal with it. This is Monster tradition."

 _Have to deal with what?_

"That is true, but tradition never said it had to be in the public, just in front of the leader of Guards or King Asgore? Um, Sans is . . . well, he's not very used to girls any more than I am. This is tough enough on my brother."

 _Sans and girls?_ _Why are they talking about_ _Sans_ _and girls?_ Chance looked over Papyrus' shoulder where he saw his mom and Sans standing right next to each other with a big crowd surrounding them at Grillby's. Beforehand, he had been hurting too much to know what was going on.

"Besides which, conjuring is a delicate issue. I don't think we've had much practice."

"He's conjured plenty, Papyrus."

"Yes, when it comes to certain things, but not, um . . . this? This is return conjuring. We haven't played this kind of conjuring for some time. It only crops up every once in awhile, and we aren't very good at it. So, it could take awhile for him to get it. Please?" Papyrus asked. "Just let him and Frisky kiss in front of you as witness in the back? And, uh, don't rush it?"

Wait, what? "Sans is going to kiss my mom?" Chance asked surprised. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Ah?! Oh, you're awake?" Papyrus wiggled his bony fingers at him. "Nice nap?"

Chance was ready to get down though. What was going on? Why was Sans going to kiss his mom? Why was everyone surrounding them?

"Nice distraction," Undyne complimented him. "Let him down, Papyrus."

Papyrus let Chance down where he went running toward his mom.

"Momma, what's happening?" Chance asked as he looked toward Sans. "How come you want to kiss my mom?"

"Oh, Chance. Sorry, I know this is not something normal to wake up to." Frisky bent down toward his level. "You feel better?"

"Yeah. I remember someone asking me about something about pain though?"

"That was me," King Asgore said as he approached. Chance pulled himself onto his mom's neck. "Oh, I see you're more awake now. Don't worry. I know not _every_ human is bad."

Sans bent down next to Chance. "No worries, kid. You're never going back to your ship again. You're staying snowed in in Snowdin forever."

Chance looked toward Sans awhile before looking back at his mom. "Snowdin forever?" That would be awesome! But, they were supposed to go back home. Freedom. "Oh, I get it. We didn't earn our freedom and you didn't want Conner touching you again, so you ran away?"

"Not exactly. Uh."

"Heh. Hey, Chance?" Sans sounded funny. "What do you mean by _again_?"

"Ah, he liked to sneak up behind her and grab her or kiss her. He likes to make girls squeal." Why did Sans care about that though? "So come on, what's true and what's not here?" Chance begged his mom.

"We're staying in Snowdin with Sans and Papyrus," his mother answered. "Sans isn't lying about that."

"Are you sure? For how long?" Chance touched the flowers on his mother's head. "What are these for?" He touched his own head, realizing he had some on him too. "Are these the same? Why am I wearing girly flowers?" His face went red and he crossed his arms. "I'm a boy, not a girl!"

"It's for the ceremony," his mom said softly. "Just bear with it a bit? We're almost done."

"What ceremony?" Chance looked all around. "I'm confused."

"See?" Papyrus said to Undyne. "It's confusing enough for him. What do you say?"

"Alright, fine. You can't wiggle out of anything else, Sans," Undyne warned him. "In the back room. You, Frisky and me. Come on."

"Where are you going?" Chance asked.

"Just stay with Papyrus a second, okay? We won't be long," Sans said as he and his mom went toward the back away from everyone.

 _I don't know what's going on, but, well, at least we get to stay longer._ Except that his stomach was starting to hurt again. "Papyrus." He held onto Papyrus' femur. _Snow, Sans, home, what?_

"It's okay. This will all pass." Papyrus picked him back up. "Soon, very soon, you'll never feel any kind of a stomach or fever sickness again." He sighed as they looked toward where Sans and his mom went. "Oh. Poor Sans."

* * *

"Okay, you've got your privacy," Undyne said.

"Kay. Frisky, close your eyes." Frisky gave him a funny look. "Just trust me, and just wait. A few minutes. Maybe more." She closed her eyes. _Hmm._ _I never do this by myself, it just comes with an extra tasty burger. Although, the last one lasted awhile. It didn't disappear until this morning. Maybe that will make it easier?_ A return conjure used to be kind of a fun thing, but there was no reason to continue doing that. Especially after he learned how to conjure up attacks. Now, if he could return conjure up something like a Grillby burger, it would have been worth the practice.

Sans wiggled his hands, trying to get his magic to make the most simplistic thing. A simple skin around a finger. It wouldn't look anything like a human, and translucent, but it would be a good start. He'd practiced a bit that day, but the whole day was a rush of things to do. There was always something he had to do. Undyne watching him didn't make it any easier, but there wasn't a choice there. She had to be witness. At least Papyrus did his part and gave him a lot of privacy. Because people would probably be laughing at him trying to do this.

Okay. _First step, visualize. Remember, you already have it. You just don't ever use it_ _._ That Skeleton book he'd read with Chance popped back into his mind. He'd got that to help Chance understand when he started to change, but he found himself working backward in the book too. _Come on._ _I can do a simple trick Skeleton kids loved to play._ He moved his bony fingers around as he started to see swirls of blue forming around his hand. Yeah, translucent but real enough. He felt the muscle and skin around his bones. The room felt cold. _Oh yeah, t_ _hat's why we never use it,_ _who wants to feel cold?_ _Geez, this is what Frisk_ _y_ _felt? And it's supposed to be warm in here. Wow._

Undyne didn't rush him. Papyrus must have warned her it'd been awhile since he did it. He swished his hand around slightly, feeling the air around it. _Cold, cold, cold_ _!_ Still, it was a step in the right direction.

Knowing what cold felt like would make the inside of his mouth easier. It was the opposite, but to help remember the warmth, he had to remember the cold. _Loose_ _lips_ _sink ships._ _There's no way I can manage that yet._ _Come on, no cheating with a burger. I just had that tongue for awhile._ He remembered the funny, bobbing little thing. Weird feeling little thing. Then, he felt it. _Yes, I did it without a burger!_

And Undyne was just giving him a strange look. _What? It's just a glowing blue tongue. What did she expect?_ He stuck his tongue out at her, startling her slightly since he never even bothered to open his mouth to talk. _Heh_ _, never get to do that._ _Have to remember that one later. It'd really freak Monsters out._ Undyne glared at him but gestured toward Frisky.

Sans came over toward Frisky. If he just thought of it as a joke, maybe it'd be easier. Like a hand buzzer, or a whoopee cushion in the hand. Something entirely unexpected. "Okay, Frisky, open your mouth." She opened her mouth.

It was supposed to be a quick thing. Just touch her tongue for a second or two. She'd be surprised. Like a joke. Easiest way to deal with it. That's what it was supposed to be.

That's what it was _supposed_ to be. But, once his tongue felt the warmth on her tongue, his judging instincts kicked in. It was that feeling again, that feeling that he couldn't figure out or find again. Instead of seeing it in her face though, he felt it. Something familiar but new. But, what was it? What was it? Powerful like LOVE, but good. So good. What was it? He probed her mouth deeper, feeling everything he could, trying to figure it out.

He knew emotions. He lived emotions. He could tell any kind of emotion except this one, what was it? And why did she have to be so soft inside too? There wasn't a single hard spot on a human and the mouth was even softer than the outside. What was it? What was it? What was the emotion that he felt surging from her?

He could feel confusion, some humility, a lot of surprise, but what else? The feeling felt almost drowning. Energetic, powerful, but not evil. What was it?! Friskarino's last words echoed in his head.

 _You take damn good care of Frisky. Because she is DETERMINATION, has a lot in store but it comes_ _from massive amounts of lov_ _e for_ _the_ _kid_ _._

 _She_ _is DETERMINATION_ _. . ._ _massive amounts of lov_ _e for_ _the_ _kid_ _._

 _massive amounts of lov_ _e_ _. . ._

Love, not LOVE? Powerful but good. Really good. An emotion that he didn't recognize. How could someone be made of love though? He loved people. Papyrus loved him, but he didn't . . .

* * *

Undyne tried not to turn red as she watched the two. _What the heck?_ _!_ She thought this would be a relatively simple thing. Embarrassing maybe, and he seemed to treat it like it was a joke at first, even sticking his tongue out at her. But, uh, Frisky was basically nailed against the wall, trying not to move, and definitely not understanding what was going on. Her body was rigid. At first at least. _Geez, f_ _or someone who_ _'s content to have a lazy life,_ _Sans_ _likes exploration._ _Let her breathe!_ Maybe it was never having a tongue or something? _Shy my scaly butt, Papyrus._ _I feel like I'm being forced to watch_ _Alphys_ _special anime._

Still. Knowing him, he'd say she was the one who said how long the kiss had to be and how it had to go to get out of the jam he put himself into. "That should be long enough?"

* * *

 _Hang on, what am I doing?!_ Realizing that was way more than a simple touching of tongues, he let go. Then, when he let go, he saw it in her face. She quickly looked away and touched her mouth.

How could anyone be made of love? That wasn't anything he ever sensed in anyone. And surely, he would have sensed that from someone he loved, or who loved him? Like Papyrus. _Why are my thoughts repeating? Didn't I try to come up with something before?_ It was hard to finish his thoughts.

"Okay, that was long enough I suppose," Undyne said, making up for the accidental poison and back scratching. "Barely. I guess I'll count it. You're done." She stood up and walked away.

Sans held his tongue back in right away, and went back to talking with his teeth closed like he usually did. "Told you it wouldn't be that bad." The work he did on his hand had faded away some time ago, but his tongue was too stimulated to disappear yet. Really stimulated. In fact, every bone in his body felt nothing but good vibes in every corner. "Look at that, so, the thing, this marriage, you know? It's over. We're married, we're done, we just need to see uhhhh . . . the King. Yep, the King guy. He'll just give us our official things. So, let's go."

When he came out, King Asgore held a paper for him. He grabbed it real quick but headed straight for Papyrus. "So, it's done. Things and stuff."

"Hey Sans, how was it?" One of his old Grillby friends asked.

"Total hit and a **_Mrs_** at once," Sans said. Damn, he felt like he was right on target today.

"Great going, Sans. Keep a close eye on your human."

"Yep, she's the apple of my eye and I'll stay right be **_cider_** _,"_ he winked at his friend.

"Sans, really?" Papyrus complained. "Now? You're jokey now of all times? Ugh."

"Come on, Pap, lighten up. Let's be happy the **_ball and chain_** isn't on the ball and chain anymore."

"Sans!"

"What? I thought that was rightly **_groom_** ed for the occasion?"

"Stop, no! Why are you getting so punny?" Papyrus groaned as he gave him Chance. "Here, here's Chance. He's feeling icky again."

"Hey there, almost mini-me, how are you? Not quite a Skeleton yet?" Sans asked. He was just rewarded with a groan. He was spaced out. "Eh, two days tops ya think, Pap?"

"Sans? Are you okay?" Papyrus asked. "You look relieved? Well, I suppose you would look relieved, but there's something else. Are you feeling well?"

"Completely! It was only a matter of ** _wife and debt,_** but it's over."

"No, Sans, Geez!" Papyrus covered his face. "Eh. Oh, here. Let me see Chance and I'll see if the Queen can maybe help heal him. You should get home and get the last things ready."

"Hey, it's freebie day. Why not?" Sans waved and headed out. He heard more congrats on his way out, but it was lightening up as he walked. Just enjoying a nice walk alone. He looked at his list of do's and don'ts. Nah, nothing too bad at all.

"Hey, Sans!" Monster Kid ran up to him before falling flat on his face. He lifted himself back up and finished running toward him. "I was at your wedding. I was several houses down, but I was there! So, is Chance really staying?"

"Yep, you bet." Sans jiggled a few wrappers in his coat. He really had a lot of energy in him. Funny.

"Cool! Where is he?"

"Chance isn't feeling well yet. He will be though." Sans winked at him. "Won't ever be sick again soon. Gotta go. I've got a couple more things to do."

"Okay. Good luck with your new family!"

"Yuh huh." Thank goodness life got more normal now. At least, a little more normal. Well, it wouldn't be as bad.

He kicked some of the snow playfully. Him and Papyrus. Papyrus and him. That's all he remembered for some time. Now, there were going to be two more people in the family. _I've got a brother who's_ _beyond_ _cool. I've got me_ _,_ _I guess I count. I've got a kid who can have people jump in him. I've got a . . ._ He stopped walking in the snow as he saw Flowey. "I've got a flower in my way. What's up, Flowey? Flowey the Flower? Hey, that's kind of like Sans the Skeleton. We go S the S for F the F."

"Are you making fun of me?" Flowey groaned. "You're extra smiley, Smiley Trashbag. Feeling good? Enjoying your last moments before you have to become Mr. Responsible? Personally responsible for two humans?"

Sans kept walking. "Sorry lil' seed of evil, you'll have to put the **petal** to the metal because I don't have time. Got to deal with some stuff, later."

* * *

Frisky walked around outside, trying to grasp onto what happened. _Sans kissed me._ _Well, I mean it wasn't really a kiss. He doesn't have lips, but um, it was . . ._ While she walked around though, she noticed a little rabbit hopping her way.

"Uh, hello?" A little rabbit came over with a little pot filled with soil. "Are you Frisky the Skeleton?"

Oh, yeah. Name change. Frisky was going to have to get used to that. "Yes."

"Hi. There was a little girl who said you'd like this for your wedding day." He smiled and showed her the pot. "She said to add happy stickers to it too, so I did. She said you'd need it." He gave her the pot. "Um, congratulations." He bounced away.

Then, she heard a laugh. A child's laugh. She looked around her.

"Hey there."

 _That voice?_ She knew that voice. _Chara_ _?_

"Don't worry, I'm not in your head." She saw a strange silhouette behind one of the trees. "I'm everywhere."

"In the barrier," Frisky said knowingly. "Are you okay?"

"Completely."

"Chara. I thought you would be able to move on finally. Are you stuck? Are you able to move on?"

"I will but not yet. This barrier is actually going to free me. Finally." The silhouette moved again. "My torture's ended. So has yours. You got your happy ever after, but, you don't even know it yet."

"My happy ever after?"

"Yep."

"My? My happy ever after?"

"Uh huh."

"The whole FRISK is gone now." Frisky shrugged. "I'm trapped Underground, never to see the light of day again. Chance is going to change, and I'm kind of married to a Skeleton with apparently another one on the way in three months unless Toriel convinces the King otherwise. And if the humans find a way to get into the barrier and find me, I'm going straight to hell. Yeah, go me."

"Ha! No, silly human. Silly, silly human." Chara's actual appearance graced itself beside another tree. "I'm tired of this whole thing, but, I'm not going yet. There are a few things I want to do before I finally leave."

"I will help however I can," Frisky answered, "as long as it's not bad."

"Definition of bad depends on who was controlling. Who was in charge. How much I was forced to feel. How much I got drowned in all you FRISK's bad memories and feelings. It's always been that way. Anyhow, before I go, I have to show you why. Why this is your happy ending."

" . . . Why? Why would you care so much about me? I'm just, me. Just a regular human to despise like every other human."

"Do you have any idea how long this game with you has _really_ been running? Time and time again, I just wanted to erase everything. Without you FRISK's in between, I don't think there would have been an ounce of goodness left in whatever it is I am."

"Oh." Frisky felt her heart beating strongly. "I did what I could. I am sorry I couldn't keep more control."

"Trapped. All of humanity has been. That's karma. I'll stick around to help defend the Monsters and okay humans with my own DETERMINATION until I'm not needed anymore. But after that, I'll probably fade away. I don't have or want to have the energy to tackle the next beast coming."

"Balancers." Frisky already knew. "Sans and all the Monsters. They still see humankind as the only evil. I've even told them, but they can't see it."

"Humans are nothing but slaves to the Balancers. I know. What do you expect, they are part human. Only those who naturally mix should mix it up." She laughed again oddly, which Frisky didn't understand. "I _hate_ humanity. I hated it when I was alive, and I hate it just as much now."

"There are good and there are bad in all things," Frisky said. "I am human. I am full human. I've known other humans who were good. Haven't you ever known a single good human too?"

Chara was quiet for a time. "We can't judge one by one, but as a whole. The consequences will be felt for all their crimes. It'll be lucky to survive. But, it really doesn't matter. I told you, you have your happy ending."

"My happy ending?" Frisky still didn't understand. "My happy ending was being free. Being with my . . . my own family again. Knowing who I was. Who I'd been. Being with my son, in a civilian environment. But, I can't do that. I can't do that to Sans."

"Really? Let me tell you something, silly Frisky. If the humans or Balancers had gotten a hold of Itty Bitty, they would have killed his mind with the insanity of all the timelines. He would be dead inside while souls that made PERSEVERANCE look like a friendly teddy bear make him kill everything. And you know what? That was your only other ending. Ever. The Balancers anger would have sent him on humans, or humans would have taken out the Balancers." Chara appeared behind her. "I admit, the teleporting out of here thing was a test. I wanted to see how much time had changed you. How much you were still Frisky instead of FRISK. You passed, congrats. Humans and Balancers have determination, and there are still a lot of both of those kinds of rodents out there. Monsters expect to see Balancers with the old barrier gone, so I let a few in here and there. But, I'm not stupid either, Frisky. I've kept a large majority out. But, they'll find ways around my barrier. Humans and Balancers. Nothing's perfect. So, ya see? Happily ever after, Mrs. Sans the Skeleton."

 _Kill his mind._ _Evil souls to flood my son?_ If that was true, Chara was right. This was the best ending she'd ever get _._ "I see. Well, I suppose believing any of that was selfish of me." She sighed. "I'm sure they will all find their way in. Hopefully later than sooner." Change of subject. The only thing that she was good at it. "What is it that you want me to do for you to make you happy?"

"Just take care of Flowey. When I finally go, I'm taking him too, but I'm not taking him like _that_. Experimentation. Souls don't need to be experimented on. Determination shouldn't be used like a liquid remedy. We're more than that, but that's what humans forgot. Even Monsters started falling into that pit. I mean, I think it was tough enough on Flowey before, but then he just had to go bug and trick Alphys during her determination experiments. Wanted even more. Thought maybe that would help him gain the will to stop the resets. But, it didn't work. I mean . . . look at him. He's a flower!" She groaned. "My soul was way stronger 'cause I'm human. I was able to sleep and relax at least near my body, on top of the flowers. But I didn't _become_ them. His Monster soul though. It's just so weak. If it can't expire but it can't go into a re-reset, then all he had was the flowers. And he's got thousands of years where he didn't die and he couldn't sleep, so he's going to need some help. You're the obvious Frisk for this job, 'cause he's not going to get it from me."

Take care of Flowey? "Flowey moves as he wishes. I could be nicer to him. Do you want me to talk to him about the past? About kindness? Thousands of years of . . . insanity may be tough to tackle?"

"Flowey is already slowly changing. With the humans interference gone, I can feel it. And Flowey holds the truths. Before I take him. Before I take my brother, Asriel, he'll help show you why this is your happy ending. Real happy. Like chocolate! Oh. I miss chocolate." Chara chuckled as she disappeared.

But she already told her why it was her happy ending. Chance would be dead inside, fighting all across the world, probably for the rest of his life, for whichever side 'attained' him. Frisky didn't have time to think about that though as, right on cue, Flowey popped up out of the snow. "Well, well, Mrs. Sans the Skeleton." He chuckled. "How does that make you-!"

"Flowey!" Frisky rushed to him as several lasers actually struck around him. He fell to the ground. All of him. The lasers had hit his roots. Looking at the pot, she quickly grabbed him while he was out and planted him in it.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Flowey kept trying to bring himself back into the ground, away from the pot, but the barrier kept shooting lasers at him. "Not fair, this is so stupid! I was the Guardian of everything, I don't want to be in a pot like a houseplant, Chara!"

Frisky just heard a chuckle from above.

"Quit being a crybaby and take your medicine."

"Why?" Flowey looked around the pot. "Why are there smiley stickers on this pot?" His face turned dark as he looked at Frisky. "What are you doing?!"

"Following Chara's wishes," Frisky said. "Sorry, but, she isn't going to let you leave this pot. You have some kind of purpose, I suppose."

"Oh, shut up!" Flowey tried to come out again, and was shot at by the barrier's lasers again. "Damn it, Charaaaaa!"

* * *

Sans came back from his house. Everything was as ready as it could be but he heard children laughing and he could swear he saw Alphys. Sans moved over toward the back of the bushes, into a clearing where the kids were all playing. Toriel, Alphys, and Papyrus were all standing around. He looked over toward Chance who was having just as much fun as the others playing in the snow. After being sick, really? However, the other conduits were playing too. As a Skeleton he wouldn't be able to sense the cold, but if they all seemed fine, the weather must have been more tolerable. Still. He didn't want him out there that long. "Hey, Alphys. Playtime, huh?"

"Oh! Hey, Sans. Um, congrats, I think?" Alphys gestured to the kids. "The little ones I'm watching are uh, well, they never saw snow. We decided to let them play for a bit. I-I don't think between you and me they have gotten much playtime."

Sans looked toward the other kids. Some of them seemed thrilled. Some of them looked confused. While one of them looked . . . borderline strange. "That one in the black striped shirt?"

"That's, um, I think Toriel named him Matt." She bit her lip nervously. "She is healing him at least once a day. Out of all of them, he seems to be the most likely to become a . . . you know. She is _really_ trying to help him, and keep him happy. But, he's hard to reach."

"She can do it." Sans went over to Matt. "So you're names Matt, huh? I'm Sans. Good to meet you." He held out his hand. Matt lifted his eye toward his hand, tilting his head slightly before slowly grabbing his hand. "Shake?" Sans shaked his hand while Matt's head moved with the handshake.

"Matt, Matt, Matt!" Chance came over and laughed with him. "This is Sans! He's cool."

Sans watched as Matt smiled toward Chance and shook Sans hand back. Conduits must have a closer connection.

"Matt, you are interacting so well!" Toriel said as she came over. "Good for you, meeting new friends. New adventures. New everything."

"Yep. Everything is new." Sans looked toward Chance. "You better get your Uncle Papyrus and I'll get your mom at Grillby's. We're going home."

Chance just stared at him. "Did you say Uncle Papyrus?"

"Yeah. Look. I know we've kind of been ignoring you. You really shouldn't even be playing in the snow right now as _sick_ as you've been." Sans looked over toward Papyrus who just waved. "It was all awkward. Basically though, your dad wasn't a forgotten creature." He gestured to himself. "It was me. You were a secret weapon, kind of, and if you went back up bad things would have happened. So, you have to stay down here."

"Oh. That . . . I was a weapon?"

"They wanted to use you that way, yeah. When you get older, I'm sure you'll get all the facts." Definitely older. "Since you're a Monster though without any claim, your mom and you were on the dinner plate for any Monster that wanted to claim you. So, um, I married your mom."

"You married my mom?" Chance just stared at Sans. "Frisky, 95452, PACIFIST soldier, Ship 229? Seriously?" Chance scratched his head. "Wow. That's. Uh. Neat, but Conner's gonna kill you. He's been after my mom for years to break her determination and win her."

 _I wish he'd try it._ Huh. Where did that thought come from? Conner was supposed to just be the annoying one, not a bad one. Weird. "No worries though, it's nothing big. You just live with us without the shackles. That's pretty much it. Come on, kid." Sans shouted toward his brother across the open snow area. "Papyrus! Let's go!"

"But what now?" Chance asked as he followed after Sans. "Do I have to start calling you dad? Do you keep calling me kid? What do dads and sons do? I don't exactly know, Sans."

"I don't know either," Sans said as he grabbed Chance's hand and shrugged. "I think we're doing fine as is. Call me dad if you want. Don't if you don't want."

"I am here! Sorry. I got busy with the other little humans. I mean, Conduits," Papyrus answered.

"What about you?" Chance asked Papyrus. "Am I supposed to call you Uncle Papyrus?"

"Uncle Papyrus?" Papyrus tapped his bony finger on his mandible. "I, the Great Uncle Papyrus, accept that name! Longer names, more importance."

Sans wasn't the happiest Skeleton in the world when he found out Frisky wandered off. She was _supposed_ to stay in where it was extra warm, but she wasn't too hard to find. Snowdin wasn't that big, and humans had distinguishable tracks. When Sans came over to her with Papyrus and Chance though, he stopped.

Flowey was growling at him from inside a flower pot. The pot itself had words like Celebrate, Cheer up, happy faces, and other nice things that didn't fit him at all.

"The barrier." Frisky's voice was even. "Chara's soul. I heard that from Friskarino, not you. Magic truth, huh?"

Oh. She noticed that. "Um, it's way easier to deal with it in small doses. Not everything _everything_ flows forward."

"You could have said something about that."

"What fun would that have been?"

"That's not nice, Sans. Um . . . what did I tell you?"

"Everything you ever wanted for Christmas?" Sans gestured to Flowey. "I don't think that was on the list."

"You suck!" Flowey yelled at him. "You gave Chara all that power, what's _wrong_ with you?!"

"She is easy to get out," Sans said confidently. "I didn't push her in, she wanted in."

"But look at me!" Flowey wiggled all around.

"Chara won't let him back into the ground." Frisky held him toward Sans. "She wants him to stay in here. She said that without the interference of the other barrier that he would change, and I needed to watch him."

"I'm not a child, I'm older than any of you!" Flowey yelled again.

Sans scratched his cheek bone and shrugged. If it had been before the whole family ordeal, there's no way he'd say yes. Flowey was just plain evil. But. Without him, he wouldn't have Chance or Frisky. He also helped when Chance bottomed out, and he really didn't need to do that one. He even reminded him of Toriel's clothes which he really needed because his GOLD barely reached enough. Not to mention it was Chara's determination that made their barrier extra powerful. So. "Chara's kind of helping the barrier a lot, so okay." He bent down to look at Flowey growling. "I guess it's a family adding kind of day, and Flowey makes five." Flowey hissed at him. "Let's get one thing straight though. You're a flower. Snowdin's cold. If you're a _bad_ flower inside our house, you're going to an outside windowsill."

Flowey didn't respond, but he continued to look annoyed.

Sans just started to trot away. "Come on. Let's go home." Frisky and Chance were trailing behind with Flowey, having their own conversation, and Papyrus was by his side for support.

That day could have ended a lot differently. It wasn't what he expected. And when Frisky disappeared, he thought that had been it. He'd lost them forever.

But, it wasn't. Frisky had determination, but he'd got it wrong. She wasn't _just_ that. She was the part that wanted everyone to just be happy. And, he didn't figure it out until that day. And she somehow had the power of love inside her, instead of LOVE. No idea how, but it was there.

She was good. She was so good. She was too good. And he tried not to think about all the things he learned during the Soul bearing yet. It wasn't a good time. That confrontation would be later.

"Papyrus?" Sans looked toward his brother. "This. It turned out okay. It did."

"I know. I was surprised too," Papyrus agreed. "Why, I figured she would have headed as far away as possible. This. It's already over, and it wasn't bad at all."

Sans looked back at Chance and Frisky, then back toward his brother, then back at them again. Then back toward his brother.

"What is it, Sans?" Papyrus asked.

"It's just that even if she knew she couldn't do anything, most people wouldn't just willingly do that." He looked back toward her again, still talking with Chance. He looked back toward Papyrus, and then back at her.

"Sans? What is it?" Papyrus asked.

"She. It just." Sans looked at their house coming up. He felt Papyrus pat him on the shoulder.

"Perhaps this horrible, horrible thing that wasn't so bad . . . may actually . . . be good?" Papyrus asked. "Is that what you're thinking, Sans?"

Sans didn't really know what to say to that. He looked through the other papers and noticed it. It, it. "Whoa, Pap, she can really cook!"

"She can?! More than Spaghetti?"

"Way more, and it even says she'll teach you to if you want."

"Really? I can learn more than one kind of spaghetti?!"

"Yeah." Sans yanked out the papers. "Look at all this. Undyne marked down she could probably join forces with Grillby's later. It that's not **_hot_** news, I don't know what is."

"Sans."

"I mean, the competition **_won't be able to touch it_**."

"Sans, don't start!"

"The whole business will definitely start with a **_blaze_**."

"Sans!"

"What?" Sans chuckled. "Come on, bro. Don't get **_overheated_** already."

"Saaaaans!"

* * *

"I don't know, Undyne. I don't think Con and Duit are the right names," Alphys said as they marched across the snow. In the distance, she saw Sans and his family walking. "Oh, look at that."

Undyne curled her bottom lip. "Not them again. Wait, what's he doing?" She moved up closer. They were too far away to hear the dialogue, but she kept watching Sans look back and forth between the humans and his brother. "What?"

"I know," Alphys whispered.

"That's a human." Undyne shook her head. "I can understand the whole he _needs_ to thing, but that's just . . ."

"Sweet." Alphys folded her paws together. "I don't think he knows either. See how he just kind of looks back and forth? I wonder if Papyrus is going to tell him he's blushing."

"A feat. Blushing without all the cheek stuff beneath."

"Oh, yeah, but that's love. Can't hide love."

"Yeah, but it's a _human_. It's kind of. I don't know, I mean." Undyne turned away, but looked back. "I want to look away, but I can't. It's intriguing."

"It's romantic. Ah. Oh, and it's gone." Alphys shrugged. They were close enough to be within hearing distance now.

"I mean, the competition **_won't be able to touch it_**."

"Sans, don't start!"

"The whole business will definitely start with a **_blaze_**."

"Sans!"

"What?" Sans chuckled. "Come on, bro. Don't get **_overheated_** already."

"Saaaaans!"

"Hmm." Undyne cupped her hands to her face. "Yeah, Papyrus, he can't help it if he has a **_hot_** wife!"

"Undyne!" Alphys squealed in a harsh yet strange whisper. "He's bashful enough, you know."

"Pfftt," Undyne said, "You didn't see the kiss."


	32. Never Judge Friskay

"Astronaut food!"

Huh? Sans watched as Frisky ran ahead. Papyrus reached down for an old wrapper on the ground. She looked toward the forest next to her and took off. _Oh gosh_ _dangit_ _. Not again. She's not_ _gonna_ _be easy to keep an eye on. Full of determination and love, but still a dang Frisk._

"Okay." Papyrus scratched his skull. "Where is she going?"

Sans trotted after her with Papyrus and Chance into the clearing. He saw her hugging three other humans. Three familiar looking humans.

"Sans, don't do anything!" Frisky warned him, stretching her arms out over them. "I know, I know you're not happy with them. But, this. These are FRISK, but I swear I am _not_ going to run away with them."

"Aw, heck. Dodging his attacks way out here in a clearing would have made for one new fun challenge," Farrisk answered. "Sup, Sans. You can judge me if you want. I have nothing to hide that you don't know about me already."

"Me neither," Friskarino said.

"I do, but I'm more shameless and I don't care," Friskay said to him with a sneer.

Yeah, Sans remembered them. He already met them, but Frisky didn't remember the truth magic of course.

"What?" Papyrus looked toward Sans. "These are all . . . Frisk?"

Chance went over and tugged on Sans shirt. "They are all Frisk, but you can tell by how their name is pronounced who is who. The girl is Friskay, with ay, the guy on the left is Farrrisk, with a longer ah in it and several r's, and the other guy is just nicknamed Friskarino."

"I never agreed to that name," Friskarino said as he hugged Frisky, probably happy to see her okay. "But I couldn't say no to it, it was in my name."

"Oh. Um. When you weren't conversing with Chance, you were conversing with Friskarino and Farrisk," Frisky said to Sans. "These are . . . these are the ones you actually remember."

"Yeah," Friskay agreed. "I met you once, but I couldn't stand your puns. Sorry, not sorry. Especially since without Frisky, they refused to let us back on the ship. Now we are all really stuck." She glared at him. "I'm _glad_ I walked through all your puzzles."

Okay. Sans could see it in each of their expressions, and even the way they were each choosing to stand. Farrisk was the adventurous one that didn't want to stick around to figure stuff out. He literally clicked on the tree to solve the puzzle instead of solving the puzzles. Friskarino was the one who actually played and probably met him for burgers. And Friskay . . . _was_ the annoying one who kept hurting Papyrus' feelings by going straight through the puzzles he set up.

"Uh, don't worry, Sans. We're not sticking around for long," Farrisk said as he gestured to the right. "I am going to see Onionsans and get directions to the city where his friends are. If I get one life to live, then I'm going to spend it seeing new things that I never got to see on the mission."

"What about you two?" Frisky asked. "Where are you going?"

"Where else?" Friskay said. "Isolation but fun is key. I'm going to try and make friends with Bratty and Catty. Sure as hell won't find me in Snowdin. Cold and puns everywhere. Seriously. Remind me how we became friends?"

Frisky actually chuckled as she hugged Friskay. Sans noticed the hug though. Something in it. It wasn't just a nice gesture. "I would be nothing without you KINDNESS."

"That's true. I am worthy of the worship," Friskay patted her back gently. "I just wish I had taught you better."

"I got the best training and tips from you."

"Yeah, but not sense. No human has ever married a Monster. Reasons, Frisky, reasons."

Hmm. _No,_ _gaw_ _,_ _awww_ _. . ._ He could see it in their eyes. Friskay hated him probably as much as he hated her right now. She had yanked Frisky away. She had the gal to keep talking trash every time she opened her mouth. He wanted to get away from her and leave. But, he could also see something else.

Of all the Frisks, Friskay was the one Frisky was holding onto the most. Physically and emotionally. She was the one who came first. The one she chanted the number of. The one who actually threw herself into an encounter against him, King Asgore, and Queen Toriel. A battle no human could win. A battle probably no Monster could win either.

And the eyes of Frisky on her. Trust. Her trust was ultra high. Frisky was low on trust with everyone, but Friskay had hers completely.

Knowing what Sans knew, it wasn't hard to figure out. Frisky got good and stopped failing because of Friskay. As much as they didn't get along, he was _going to have to_.

Their emotions were so high, there was no way to avoid judging them. It was just right there. But, while Frisky missed it, Friskay didn't. And she had a cold look to match it that she _knew_ he just looked into her. He didn't even look that much considering how much he didn't like her but. _Uh oh._ Her attitude was already bad, how much worse could she get?

"I'll be closest," Friskarino said. "I'm going to take my time and save up a bunch of Temmie flakes, and see if I can't make enough friends with the Temmies that they'll let me stay."

"Couldn't miss this most tragic day though. I mean ** _big_** day," Friskay said looking toward Frisky. "Girl, you never change. For once, would you just stick with a plan that makes **_you_** happy?"

"Friskay, quit that." Friskarino bumped her shoulder. "Sorry about that, Frisky."

"I would have been kicking and screaming," Friskay said again. "I mean, it was your kid, I get it. If no one came to rescue me, then I wouldn't have left mine behind I bet. _B_ _ut_ , I would have been tied up with chains, bound and gagged while cursing Sans to Kingdom Come! And look at you?" She gestured to her head. "Nice and pretty echo flowers. All calm, like you actually _wanted_ to be there." She clapped. "Brilliant actress we know and love. Marry the guy that trapped us all until death down here."

"That's not a nice thing to say," Papyrus spoke up.

 _Trying. Really trying._ _She's important to Frisky._

"Friskay," Friskarino warned her again. "Sorry, um. She's not so good at blocking her feelings." He glanced toward Sans once and back towards Frisky. "You be good, alright? I'll come see you every now and then. Make sure you are, you know, okay. Don't stay out in the cold too long. Temps dip fast. Blizzards are nasty too. And they are random, so don't go too far, even if it looks clear. Ok?" He whispered something in her ear a moment before backing away.

Farrisk just shook his head. "Anyhow, I am dropping by Grillby's for one last burger before I take off and see how far I can go. If I survive Grillby's. Worth it though, he can fix one mean burger."

"I want hugs before you go!" Chance said as he shoved himself at Farrisk and Friskarino's legs. He grabbed onto Friskay's jacket too. With a little effort, they were all hugging each other, except for the humming Frisk in the corner. Chance went over to hug her, but she didn't even really acknowledge his presence.

"Heh. So many years together, it always feels kind of strange to be apart."

"Has anyone tried a gnome approach yet? Teleporting errors left us pretty short for humans."

"I did," Frisky said. "I tried it as a joke, but I don't think it would work as a whole."

"So, what are the chances that Frisky can get out of here one day?" Friskay asked Sans directly. Yeah, she wasn't going to drop being judged. It was an instinct though, and sometimes the expressive emotions were too hard to ignore. Still, she wasn't done yet. That glint in her eye meant she was just getting started. "I mean, not here, in this bubble you shoved us all in before killing everyone we ever knew. I mean, from _you_. These laws with King Asgore, is all this going to hold when Monsters start moving away?"

"Of course they will!" Papyrus answered. "Marriage is marriage!"

"She's in between suicidal thoughts, don't mind her," Friskarino covered for Friskay. "We all get it."

"Can't blame her. I did do it, and I'm _not_ sorry." Sans wasn't going to apologize. "Monsters who stay will continue to follow King Asgore. And as bad as it sounds out there, I don't think many want to leave anytime soon."

"Yes," Papyrus agreed. "We wanted the sun back. But, now we have our home and the sun! And protection from all those humans out there."

"Protection from _humans_? Gaw, Frisky, how can you put up with it?" Friskay said. "So, are you saying Frisky will be trapped with you the rest of her natural _life_? There's no way for her to get out of this weird ass taboo marriage?"

"You are definitely not a nice person! Do you have anything nice in you at all?" Papyrus questioned her.

"I think she's leaning toward suicidal," Farrisk whispered loudly to Friskarino.

"Marriage is a marriage. It doesn't change," Papyrus said. "Marriage is marriage is marriage!"

"Marriage has divorce. People mess up," Friskay added. "Toriel left Asgore. Is that all Frisky needs to do, run far away from you when she can't stand you anymore?" She actually chuckled. "Find her years later playing knock-knock door with another guy? You know that you're _not_ going to get an extension, right? Toriel is still his wife, but he thinks you've been flirting. He wants you to seal the deal ASAP so he knows you're not _jacking_ around with his wife anymore."

 _That. Little._ "I joked with her."

"I don't think he believes that," Friskay finished. "Made your bed, go lie down in it, Skullhead."

"Friskay." Frisky finally warned her. "I _know_ you're tough on people, but please ease up?"

"I think we've overstayed our welcome." Farrisk said standing up, and grabbing Friskay's arms, standing her up too. Frisky finally let go of her. "If you ever need us, Frisky, you know where to find us. Here." He tossed her an MP. "In case of emergencies, we'll be there if you need us."

"Yeah. You bet. We're _not_ far," Friskay assured her. "Oh, and Conner's stuck here too so if you're in need of a good human ** _boning_** , you know where to go. Doubt a guy with no ounce of flesh is going to be able to do anything for you."

"Friskay, I am about to throw you to the Monsters themselves!" Farrisk said clearly upset with her.

Sans didn't get that one. He knew a lot of bone jokes, but that one didn't make sense. If he had said that it would have replaced failure or hit, but that didn't sound right. Papyrus didn't get it either. It was probably slang for something mean though considering she couldn't say anything nice.

"If the daddy was a Froggit, would you have done it too? Married a Froggit?" Friskay asked. "What about Onionsans? That huge thing in Waterfall, would you have become Mrs. Onionsans for it?" She rolled her eyes. "It's disgusting to know the answer is yes."

"Gosh, she is just so terrible," Papyrus said to Sans. "I don't like that Frisk at all."

"Geez, Friskay, tone it down," Friskarino warned her. "Frisky made her decision, stop harassing her for it. Be nice. You know who is over there."

"It's just Sans. Geez, PERSEVERANCE had to kill every Monster he came across into Judgment Hall to make him _fight_. I could badmouth his name all day and he'd never do anything. Seriously you could kill his own brother and he wouldn't care if you left like Undyne alive or something. He won't fight anything, ever. So, when it comes down to it, Frisky is on her own."

"Friskay, seriously!" Friskarino warned her again.

"Well, what are you expecting of me?!" Friskay shouted right back. "Frisky could have had freedom. Freedom!" She gestured toward Frisky. "Why? Why?! Things are bad enough when _we fail,_ why put yourself through this willingly?" She squinted her eyes. "At least on the ship you got mindwiped. And I bet this place is going to be _primitive_ too so. Ugh. ** _Screwed_** by a Monster, just gag me." She tapped her MP and headed out.

Papyrus' mouth just flew open. "That's . . . thaaa. . ."

Farrisk looked toward Frisky and Chance. "Uh, forget it. You know I can't even . . . I don't care. Despite everything that happened, I'm still me." He teleported away to another place.

"Sorry about that Frisky," Friskarino apologized. "And Sans. Um . . . she's just . . ."

"Never coming to visit!" Papyrus insisted as he stomped his foot in the ground. "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever! None of you are and especially her! Horrible, horrible humans!"

"Pap." Sans touched his chest. "Cool it. I know we talked about the Frisks, but relax. We'll talk more later."

"Sorry. We'll stay away." Friskarino sighed. "You do good, okay?" Friskarino looked toward Frisky's flower pot. "I'm guessing by the silent but chattering angry looking flower in your pot you met Chara, huh? She's, um, letting us teleport still. Not out. She won't let us communicate out anymore, but around the Underground. Trying to help us survive. Don't know why. Never could understand her. So, yeah. Uh. Goodbye, Frisky." He teleported away.

* * *

Damn. Friskay just had to act up like that? Friskay was full of lip, and anyone who didn't know her would think there was nothing but meanness inside of her. But, there was a reason she was kindness. _Oh, there's no way Sans will let me see her again after that. They all took me away, and I know he didn't want me to see them but . . ._ "I'm sorry. I just wanted to say goodbye?" She offered. "We better get going. It's getting colder."

"Ya think?!" Flowey lifted his droopy petals and looked at her. "It. Is. C-cold. Why are we still out here?!" He complained and wiggled around.

"Good idea." Sans shoved his hands in his coat. He needed to get the humans home.


	33. Soul Messaging Snafu

**Soul messaging: It's like a combination of texting and an answering machine vocally between monsters telepathically. It can be a live connection one to one, or left on a phone for someone to intercept later. It's not a cheap service.**

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

"Now?"

"Not yet, Papyrus."

"Now?"

"No."

"What about the sauce?"

"Not yet."

Sans glanced over toward Frisky and Papyrus. She was trying to show him her way of cooking spaghetti. It sure would be nice to taste something different. He could now. He could leave the barrier area whenever he wanted to now. See what else was out there, but now he had Frisky and Chance there too. And they couldn't leave. Even their time outside had to be limited since the weather apparently went from okay for humans to cannot survive pretty quick.

He looked at the Do and Don't list. It wasn't too bad, but one of the things he needed to do was stumping him. A loving name. A different name than anyone else would call her when he wanted to be . . . affectionate. _That_ _human_ _girl got_ _too_ _in my head._ _Toriel_ _, you really need to call and tell me the King changed this three-month thing already. Didn't you talk to him_ _yet?_ _Gah_ _._ _I don't date. I don't bother_ _with much at all_ _._ _I e_ _at._ _I j_ _oke. I'm not made for any of this. I don't know the first thing about anything_ _._

Outside though, he just kept calm. Acted like everything was completely fine. While inside, he was feeling frustrated. Toriel had his number now. Alphys had his number. Undyne had his number. Someone should be reaching him to say 'Hey, Asgore changed his mind when he settled down'. _A year's not even long enough let alone three months._ _Why do I have to get punished just because I'm a Skeleton?_ _I don't even date Monsters, how am I supposed to figure out how to date a human? This is so nuts. I mean, humans are so different. Heck,_ _Undyne_ _had Papyrus pretty convinced they were pets._

It was supposed to go date. Then marriage. Then family. But, his life was working in reverse.

He got family first, and then marriage. Now date . . . then family again.

When he found out what he had to do, Sans was only focused on making Frisky not leave. During the committing. During the marriage. He wanted to make sure she never bolted, but that was over now. Reality was settling in. _They'll call. Someone will call. I just need to concentrate on a thing at a time. What's a loving thing to call her? She says determination all the time, but I don't think it'd fit well._ _Sweetums_ _? Pumpkin pie? Ooh, it's been ages since I had pumpkin pie. That sounds good. No, no, focus! Guess not that._

"What's a five-letter word for dumb?" Chance asked as he looked at the crossword puzzle he was working on. "Idiot or Moron?"

"Try Sansy," Flowey suggested.

"Windowsill isn't too far," Sans warned him. Heh, it was kind of neat to see some of Papyrus in Chance. The kid was brilliant, just like him and Pap, but it was the simplistic stuff that stumped him. He was dealing with crosswords but junior jumble killed him. _Why couldn't I have just been the Uncle?_ He looked back toward Papyrus and Frisky again. _Call. Come on. Call._ When his cell rang, he picked it up on the first ring. "Yeah?" He looked back at it a second, forgetting to see who was calling. _Yes,_ _Toriel_ _!_ "Hey, Tori. Sup?"

 **"Well, I talked to** **Asgore** **like you wanted me too."**

"Great. So?"

 **"Um? I just can't get along with him anymore, Sans! I really don't think I am going to be able to help."**

"But you just said you talked to him?"

 **"Yes, and it dropped to two months."**

 _What?!_

 **"I could try again if you really want, but I don't think it would work in your favor.** **"**

"What's wrong?" Chance asked looking straight at him. "You don't feel right."

 _Why, nothing kid. Nothing at all. Reality is just calling and apparently it's shouting on the phone at me._ _Two months?_

 **"Sans?** **Asgore** **does have others he will talk to** **. Maybe you should try them?"**

 _Alphys_ _and_ _Undyne_ _._ _I've got to get them to talk to him._

"You're manifesting?" Chance looked straight at him. "You're sweating, dad."

 _And now he's calling me dad?_ _Oh_ _, I did say he could if he wanted. Why'd I say that?_ "Uhh . . . yeah. Dad, huh?"

"I figured I'd try it." Chance shrugged. "Most kids call their dads dad. There is also daddy, poppa, pop, and father. Father sounds too proper and I think Pop would get confused with your Pap. I guess I can call you daddy too, or daddy Sans. I don't know. It's all weird. This whole thing is weird, but." He shrugged. "When you've got a soul people can jump into, you have to kinda get used to anything at anytime."

"Ye."

 **"Dad, huh? Are you talking to your son now? Have you decided what you want to do?"**

 _Oh,_ _Tori_ _, I'm still talking to Tori._ "Uh, I'll try someone else. Thanks. I think." He hit end on the phone. He needed to talk to Alphys and Undyne seriously, without talking around anyone right now. _Soul messaging it is._ It was a magic connection that put telepathic thought through phone and it wasn't cheap. This would make his phone bill rise, but it was necessary. He tried to soul message both of them at once, hoping one of them would get back to him first to proceed.

 **Uh, hey? I kind of need a favor. You're pretty chummy with the King, right? Great. Could you ask him to change the time** **I have to have a kid? Tonight, preferably. Maybe even now would be good?**

As he expected, Alphys soul messaged him first.

 **Alphys** **:** **I'm here with** **Toriel** **still. She said you might soul message me, but** **I don't know if I could do that. I'm just his royal** **scientist. We're not chummy.**

 **Sans: Kay. Could you try? Maybe?**

 **Alphys** **: Do I have to?**

 **Sans:** **Kinda** **yeah? Please?**

 **Alphys** **: Um. I don't know.**

Dang. Alphys was too shy. Sans tried to think of what to say when he got a soul message from Undyne.

 **Undyne** **:** **Geez, Stallion, let her breathe!**

Huh? That didn't make sense. **Sans:** **I'm trying to.**

 **Undyne** **:** **Sure, yeah, you call that breathing? It hasn't even been 24 hours.**

 **Sans:** **Come on,** **Undyne** **. Please help?**

 **Undyne** **:** **As anxious as you are, I doubt the human is as anxious. Seriously.**

 **Sans:** **I'm sure she's just as anxious.**

 **Undyne** **:** **Considering that kiss, maybe, but I don't know.**

 **Sans:** **Please? Pretty please. Give me a break,** **Undyne** **.**

 **Undyne** **:** **I really didn't know it was like th** **at** **, but** **.** **Confusing but then.** **Whatever** **, I'll tell the King.**

Yes. Undyne would probably get it done. _About 5,000 GOLD already. Maybe I should just get up and talk away from everyone?_ He waited about a minute to get a soul message back.

 **Undyne** **:** **He** **seemed totally okay with it. Thrilled actually and wished you luck.**

 **Sans:** **Great.** **What is it, a year?**

 **Undyne** **:** **What's** **a year?**

 **Sans:** **Uh? The kid thing?**

 **Undyne** **:** **Sans** **, what are you talking about?**

 **Sans:** **What are you talking about?**

 **Undyne** **: You didn't say** **that, you said you wanted a kid now.**

 _What? Oh no, my mind wasn't clear enough! I'm too anxious, I didn't connect right!_ Oh, he'd done it too fast. Even if it did sound like that, but why would she assume that? **Sans:** **Undyne** **? That's not what I meant! Steady, Sans, steady. Get it right this time. I _mean_** _ **t**_ **ask him for an extension now, not for permission to have it now.**

 **Undyne** **: Oh. Sorry.**

 **Sans: How could you possibly think it was the other way?!**

 **Undyne** **: Cause stud, I saw your kiss. You practically mauled her against the wall.**

 _Oh_ _._ **Sans: I didn't know how long it was supposed to be.**

 **Undyne** **: Don't even. Who you** **foolin** **'? Especially with soul messaging, you're even less convincing.**

 **Sans: That wasn't what it looked like. There was something inside of her that I couldn't figure out, and** **instinct** **just kicked in.**

 **Undyne** **: Sure, yeah. Instinct kicked in alright.**

 **Sans: Get it switched right, please?**

 **Undyne** **: Hey, don't blame me. You're the one who flirted with his wife.**

 **Sans: Damn it, we were just friends! We're just friends!**

 **Undyne** **: Yeah. Well. Just better watch out who you're telling knock-knock jokes** **t** **o.** **Okay, hang on.**

Sans waited.

 **Undyne** **: Okay. Listen, Sans. King** **Asgore** **doesn't like you right now. For one,** **you** **lied about your relation to** **your son** **. Then,** **Frisky** **told him no at the wedding** **and s** **he kept interrupting. Then, Papyrus kept interrupting when** **he** **did** **offer** **a twelve-month break.** **He also said Frisky was a load of trouble in the Soul bearing. Not to mention the wife** **s** **nafu. I will ask him to fix it BUT I wouldn't bother him for anything else. I really wouldn't. Seriously, he might ask me to hunt you down,** **y'know** **? I might have to anyhow, to get you to pay this soul messaging bill!**

Dang. This wasn't working out well at all. Then, he got another new soul message. Hopefully, Undyne got it reversed because that was really not happening.

 **Alphys** **: He is super angry! I tried to ask him for an extension for you, and he said he doesn't appreciate the way you joke. His soul voice was like a thundering volcano too. Not good. Um, sorry.**

Shoot! She actually did stop to ask? _Motion shift. I_ _sooo_ _need a motion shift right now._ Then, he heard his cell go off again.

"Sans?" Papyrus questioned. "You're phone has really been going off constantly. Who are you talking to?"

Sans scratched his skull. "No one big. Um, getting congratulations and stuff." He looked back at the phone. Miracle. He needed a miracle.

 **Alphys** **: Um. Okay. Um. Sans?**

She could have put more than that into the message. It wasn't making him feel any better. In fact, her voice sounded frail and frightened.

 **Alphys** **: I know there's something real bad about when Frisky failed missions.** **Chara** **accidentally brought it up, but even she wouldn't continue. So. You went through the soul bearing?**

 **Alphys** **: I don't know what it was, but you should, right? I'm not** **gonna** **ask what it is, but. Maybe. I mean, if it's something bad** **bad** **. Um.**

 **Alphys** **: Maybe King** **Asgore** **would give her a break instead of you?**

 **Alphys** **: Sans?**

 **Sans:** **No.**

 **Alphys** **: Sorry. You got the volcano thunder voice too. That's even worse coming from you. I'm sorry! It is bad then. Okay.**

 **Alphys** **:** **Okay. He said** **he** **is willing to** **think about it** **. He might even grant an even longer than usual extension,** **but he wants to talk to her.**

That was good news. **Sans: How did you get that?**

 **Alphys** **: I told him something** **Chara** **told me, and he kind of took it from there.**

 **Sans: What?**

 **Alphys** **: It's not good. Do I really have to say?**

 **Sans: What is it** **Alphys** **.**

 **Alphys** **: When Frisky was** **in the lab** **, she told me not to call Chance by any name but Frisk or 95451. After she said that,** **Chara** **said that every time someone called themselves something different than** **that number or name thing? Well, it was bad.**

 **Sans: What happens?**

 **Alphys** **: When she returned she would have been whipped for each time the other name was said** **.**

 **Alphys** **: Sorry. I don't think her world is really that nice. I haven't left the barrier yet because I'm afraid to see it.**

 **Alphys** **: Okay. If she ever needs someone to talk t** **o, let me know.**

 **Sans: I might hold you to that.**

Killed sister. Failed mission pregnancy experiments. Name change. Sans put the phone down. Everything probably had an offense. Any reason to punish humanity. _They aren't getting their hands back on them_ _. No one is._ _Not a human. Not a Balancer. No one._ Sans just put on his usual grin toward Chance.

"That smile is actually creepy," Flowey muttered. "Not being mean, that's just truth. Soul conversation you're trying to hide from us not going well, Sansy?"

"Wh-why did you call Sans, Sansy?" Chance asked.

"C-Cause it was another word for idiot or m-moron. O-open a dictionary."

"Not in the mood," Sans warned him. Okay, like it or not, at least that was fixed better. Next thing. Loving name. _I don't know. Dear? Lovey muffin? Ooh, muffins were good_ _. I really shouldn't call her anything related to food, it takes my thinking the wrong way._

"Sans, it's cold. Really cold in here." Chance breathed. "I can see my breath."

Oh. Temperature. Even inside? He headed away to check the heat. Yeah, that heat thing. He turned it up. Maybe that would help? He headed back over. Chance was still shivering. "Not warm yet? Eh, don't worry. Couple more days and you'll be a Skeleton."

"Huh?" Chance stared at him. "What?"

"Skeleton," Sans said. "Couple more days." Probably about time to tell him. "No worries, it won't be too bad."

"I'm . . . I'm going to be a Skeleton?!"

"Yeah. It'll be fine though," Sans said right before he watched Chance run to his mom.

"Moooooommmaaa!" Chance grabbed her by the legs extra fast. "Am I going to turn into a Skeleton?! Sans said I am going to turn into a Skeleton?! Momma!" He drug her dress back and forth.

"It's okay," Papyrus assured him. "You won't have any more body pains. No more sores or ickiness!" He said proudly. "Just some hurt bones if you lay on them wrong. Well, nothing's perfect."

Papyrus had the right idea. "You won't feel cold. You won't feel hot," Sans added. "You'll be perfect all the time. You'll even be able to play outside no matter what the temperature is. You can even go to Hotlands with no problems."

Chance was still gripping onto Frisky. "Momma?"

"I know. Another big change," she said. "You'll be okay."

"But I'm a conduit!" Chance whined. "Major changes are _never_ okay for us!"

Frisky bent down to her son. "Now, now. What would the others think if they saw you right now, hm?"

"Mmm..."

"What are you?" Frisky smiled. "Come on, what are you?"

"I'm a Frisk."

"That's right, you're the Frisk. The root Frisk," she said. "You're a real Frisk."

"Yeah . . ."

"And a real Frisk does what?"

"Never cowers," he said weakly.

"Who plummeted into ocean depths deeper than anyone else?"

"I did."

"Who fought the tough terrain on Mount Piyo Piyo to rescue that important Balancer?"

"I did."

"Who had the guts to jump into the fiery lava pits in the Ring of Fire?"

"I did."

"That's right 'cause you're a Frisk." She ruffled his hair. "This is just one more thing. So, prepare for it the same way you would prepare for anything else."

"Yes, Sir!" Chance said as he saluted. He moved back over toward the table and scooted the crossword. "I'm ready to accept my fate, Sans. Um, do you have more advanced material than that little book too? Or is that all I'm getting and I need to just have the determination to face it?"

"No, don't. Don't start that up." Sans sighed. "Look, the more tense you are, the worse it'll be. Just stay _loose_ and when it happens, me and Papyrus will help. Okay?"

"But . . . but I don't work that way."

Well, he'd just have to learn.

"If Sansy says to stay loose," Flowey butted in, "then you probably should. After all you're a Sansy, and a Sansy is as a Sansy does."

On the surface it seemed like he didn't say much. Sans' own friends called him Sansy sometimes, but he also knew he was using it as a substitute from the crossword puzzle's Moron or Idiot. But, he couldn't expect Flowey to be too perfect. If he was . . . well, that would be weird.

"Come on, Chance," Flowey continued as he bopped his petals around. "Listen to your dad. All sons are supposed to listen to their daddies." He just looked toward Sans. "Daddies know best. Don't they, Sansy? Daddy? Hey, why not Sansy Daddy? Or, how about Sansy-Bones Daddy? Or Sansy the Bone Daddy?" He snickered. "What? I'm not saying anything bad. _Daddy_."

"What about yet?" Papyrus asked.

"Not yet."

"But look at all the bubbles!" Papyrus whined.

Well, another problem solved. Sans sat down, thinking of his next step. Have Frisky confide in King Asgore and get more time? Frisky kept information locked up tighter than a safe. _Uh, at least I've got a teeny bit of time for that. Let's see . . . oh yeah. Loving name._ His mind still ricocheted from one subject to the next. Then to one food from the next. Why did so many loving names have food involved?

"What about now?" Papyrus asked again.

"Trust me. Not yet. We can open the sauce though," Frisky insisted as she grabbed a sauce can.

"Are you sure?" Papyrus asked.

"Yes, just have faith."

 _H_ _mm_ _._ _Hey, she does say that sometimes. Usually after her whole determination spill. Maybe?_ _Plus, it's not food. And hey, I could work with that._ Sans trotted over toward them to test it out. "Hey, how about determination? You say it all the time. It could be your name."

"Determination isn't really an appealing name," she disagreed. "Are you still thinking about what King Asgore said at the committing? I'm not 'programmed' and I like Frisky. Of all my mission names, I like it the most."

"Come on, just have some ** _faith_** in it." He got a confusing look from both of them since he gave his usual pun delivery pause. They didn't get it yet. Frisky probably didn't even know about needing one yet. Which made it even better. "Is it ready yet?"

"I've asked several times," Papyrus said.

"Just be patient, it will get done," Frisky said.

"Just have some . . . **_faith_**?"

"Oh, but I am tired of having so much faith it will get done," Papyrus complained. "It is taking forever!"

"Aw, come on, bro. You can never get tired of **_faith_**."

"It will get done, I promise." Frisky sighed and stirred the sauce. "Good food takes time."

"And **_faith_** ," Sans added. "You need to have ** _faith_** to have good food."

"Oh. No, no, no," Papyrus said, getting the hint. He knew. "You're picking _that o_ ne for it?"

"Why not?"

"Too punny for you, way too punny."

"I like it."

"It's too punny, no!"

Yep, that was it.

"Now it's ready." Frisky was paying too much attention to the meal to catch it. Just like a Frisk, she was concentrated only on her goal. She grabbed the spaghetti and dropped it in. "We just need to wait."

"For how long?" Papyrus whined. "A couple of minutes?"

"No, about eight. We'll taste test it."

"Really, that long?"

"It's alright, Papyrus." Sans watched Papyrus' scrunched up face, knowing what was coming. "Just have some **faith**."

"No, no, no, no." Papyrus kept shaking his head. "Really, not that one. Just not that one."

"I can work with it."

"You can work with it too well, Sans!"

"Repeat. I hate repeating stuff."

Sans and Papyrus stopped to look at Flowey in the middle of the table.

"What?" Flowey asked, noticing them.

"What do you mean by repeating?" Sans questioned him.

"Nothing," Flowey said to them. "You're having better spaghetti, but it's still _just_ spaghetti. Aren't you ready to try something different yet, Daddy Sans? Hey, I like that. It's got a rhythm to it. Hey, Chance, how about that? Do you like Daddy Sans?"

What. A pain.

Frisky turned back around and grabbed a large spoon to taste the noodles. She gave Papyrus a taste test. "See how they aren't hard? That means they are done. We just need to drain the water now."

"Drain the water?" Papyrus asked. "Really, you take out the water too? Is that what prevents the freezing as fast?"

Frisky didn't even say anything to that. She just drained the spaghetti holding its top and told Papyrus to stir the sauce. "Okay. It's ready."

"Are you sure this time?"

"Yeah, have ** _faith_** in it, Bro."

"Saaaaans!"

* * *

Frisky looked between Sans and Papyrus. She knew something was up, but couldn't pinpoint it. She sat down at the table. It was actually a nice table. Another thing Sans and Papyrus had to add. They also had to add two new beds, a dresser and they brought the couch back downstairs. It was nice being able to walk where she pleased without shackles too. Overall though, that was about it so far for real big changes.

But, as she served everyone the food and sat down, everything came back to her. The marriage part was over, but now what? Would King Asgore change that date? What if she didn't make the date? It would be easy to lie, but then what happened if she did lie? Punishment was routine in her world. What would King Asgore do? And was she really going to have a baby in three months again? And . . . how? Everything was so _different_ between Underground and the rest of the world.

Which made her think about when she was eventually caught. For the cruelest offenders, they weren't mindwiped. She couldn't have any more mindwipes anyhow. So the results? _Look what it did to KINDNESS. Someone who had the strongest essence of KINDNESS._

Like Chara used to say. Liquid remedies were nothing to mess with. She was truly lucky she managed to have Chance.

Then again, at least it wasn't a physical thing. Like, like the higher soldier and subservient that were allowed to physically use their bodies to . . . like, what Conner always wanted to . . .

 _I'm sure it wouldn't work like that!_ _I mean, right? Besides, Sans a Skeleton. There's not exactly_ _anything_ _to . . ._ _interact_ _with_ _. No, I know Underground isn't as advanced, but I mean, not that way. It's not that way. It wouldn't be that way?_ _I_ _really need to think about something else._ Flowey, how to help Flowey. That would help steer her mind in a different direction.

"This is the best spaghetti I have ever tasted in my entire life!" Papyrus shouted with delight. "Soft yet warm. Pliable. Not frozen. No extra water. The sauce is warm. It's absolutely perfect! What do you think, Sans, have you had a bite yet?"

Sans didn't have to answer as Frisky saw him already going back for seconds. It was the most simplistic spaghetti she could have made, yet Papyrus and Sans devoured it like it was a gourmet meal. Papyrus was taking turns eating in between making notes.

"Wowie!" Papyrus said as he stuck out an orange tongue. "It was so good, I instinctively manifested a tongue to taste it!"

Sans stuck his tongue out at him. "I did that before I even started."

"Nooo . . ." Papyrus looked at his plate. "Sans, no, you have to share that too!"

Sans had already gotten a hold of the sauce pan. "What? Just trace amounts."

Frisky helped her son with his crossword, but watched Papyrus and Sans. They practically argued over her food. Sans was trying to pun Papyrus to death, but Papyrus had to remind him that he couldn't do more than twenty puns a day around her anymore. In the end, each of them were cleaning each of the pots clean.

While Sans was cleaning up the sauce, there was a knock on the door. Papyrus took the spaghetti pot as he answered the door. "Who would be bothering us at this time of night?" He laughed. "Night. Oh, the stars should be out by now! We should all go see the stars later!"

Frisky didn't say a word.


	34. Worse Things Than Death

"Uh, hello?" Papyrus said as he answered the door.

"Um." Alphys was by the door. "Um. I-I wanted to know if I could see Chance?"

"Alphys?" Frisky moved over toward her. "You live all the way in Hotlands. You should have gone home by now."

"I know. Toriel's watching all the humans right now. Conduits. But, um. I." Alphys moved out of the way of her conduit boy. "This is umm . . . well, I never really named him. But, uh, I took him to Toriel and she says she can't do anything else with him."

The Conduit's head was just leaning to the left. Completely unresponsive.

"She said not to expect a miracle but she sensed before that uh . . . Chance might be able to help?"

A Re-reset. "95451." Frisky's voice held no nonsense. "Check your ally."

Chance moved from the table and clicked around his friend's ears. "Hey, PM. Yo, buddy, snap out of it. Come on, man. It's me. Can't forget about me." He whistled to him and hit his hand. "Hey, you want any Monster candy? It's good. Real good."

"He-he was just fine a few hours ago," Alphys assured them all.

"It can happen fast or slow," Frisky said moving toward Chance. "Evaluation?"

"Pretty far gone already." He snapped next to his ears again. "Vision gone. Audio gone. All response to higher conduits gone. Hm. Permission to move to a more drastic measure?"

"Chance is going to do something that's not nice," Frisky warned everyone. "Don't stop him, no matter what. Even if he gets a response, _please_ don't stop him. Agreed?"

"Well, umm. . . uh, fine," Alphys agreed. "Anything that might help."

"Promise we won't interrupt," Sans said still licking at the sauce pot. "Do what you gotta."

"Okay," Frisky said. "Permission granted. Bring him back as close as you can."

Chance closed his eyes, like he was trying to focus. "Kneel you worthless sack of crud." He swiped the conduit's feet out from under him, making him land on the floor. He smacked the side of his head. "Hey, you, lousy conduit! What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?! We're gonna whip you until your entire body is red if you do not respond! Respond you stupid chunk of flesh that barely lives! Respond now or we're sending you straight to a satellite!"

The conduit moved his head and seemed to snap out of it a little. "No . . . no . . . I am . . . here."

"Bull you're here!" Chance smacked his feet. No response. He smacked his hands. "Dangit, PM. Not you too." He broke character a second. "What's your priority?!" He smacked him straight in the chest, getting a groan as a response. "You're worthless, you're nothing, you're going to be nothing! You're worth nothing until someone needs to _kill_ you! Nothing! Your only purpose now is to die, just to die! You want that?!"

" . . . no . . . n-no . . ." The conduit blinked. "Nooo . . . nooo . . ." Chance stepped on his stomach again. "Owww!" He grabbed at his stomach. Chance smacked his hands, getting a response. "Ow! Ow! O-o-ow!"

He smacked his feet again, this time flattening them on the ground so much his legs popped up. This time the Conduit crawled away. Chance smacked his head again extra hard.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"He crawled away faster, grabbed his head and started to cry.

"I think he's fine now," Chance said like what he did was nothing. He held his hand out to his friend. "Yo, PM. How are you doing?"

"Uh, hey?" The Conduit smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay. Well. Um, how'd I get here? Where's Alphys?"

"You better go back to your new home. And, don't get unhappy, man," Chance laughed. "Try and laugh. Life's _good_. We might be trapped Underground, but we're more free than we ever were before! All that other stuff is over. Don't worry so much, okay?" Chance looked toward Alphys. "Try and keep him in a good mood as much as you can, okay? Especially right now. He's my buddy, and I don't want to have to do that again."

Alphys hugged the little conduit. "I'm so happy to see you well again!"

Chance nodded and sat back down while Frisky moved over toward Alphys.

"Listen. This is very important," Frisky said to Alphys. "You need to keep _him_ real happy. If Chance hadn't gotten any response from his chest, he couldn't have saved him. Re-resets. When they fully change, they can _never_ come back. It's not just him either, you need to pay great attention and make sure all the little Conduits you and Toriel are watching stay happy too. I know they aren't tough to watch, and they usually stand around like little soldiers, but you need to _really_ interact with them. And, if you see anything wrong, bring them to Chance right away. He's . . . he's what you would call a higher conduit. Um." She pushed her hands on her chest. "There is something inside his own chest that can sometimes reach a Conduit before it changes. Okay?"

"Okay, yes, I will watch them real carefully. I-I promise," Alphys said. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

"Wow. That was . . . intense," Papyrus said. "And I am out of spaghetti. Not even a single noodle. Sans?"

"Tapped out." Sans twirled the sauce pan by it's handle. "So, Chance? That got violent."

"I have to treat them like the soldiers treat us when we start getting fazed," Chance said as he went back to his crossword. "Don't worry though, I haven't been fazed since . . ."

"Since two years old," Frisky answered for him. "Only once."

"Good. Hey, Papyrus? Let's go out and see the stars," Sans insisted. "We'll be back, and excellent food Frisky. You should start teaming up with Papyrus from now on." Sans trotted outside with Papyrus following after him.

"Ooh. Stars." Papyrus didn't sound so positive. "That was a terrible thing to see."

* * *

Annoying. So annoying. What did Chara want already? Flowey growled as Frisky came over and helped Chance with his puzzle again. _Why do I have to be here? What does Chara want from me? This is beyond stupid! As stupid as everything else!_ Flowey ducked his head.

It was boring. Not being able to move. Stuck in a pot inside Snowdin. He wanted his ground again. To be able to move and be free.

"Ooh. Stars. That was a terrible thing to see." He heard the tall bonehead's voice. Perks of being an evil flower. It was easy to crop up on secrets because he had extremely good hearing. Even if he didn't have ears.

"Yeah, I know." Great, Smiley Trashbag's voice. "I am really not sorry I took out those ships."

"Look at what they created. Humans! How . . . how . . . could they have come from that?"

 _More than humans, idiots,_ Flower thought. Still being stuck next to a crossword puzzle with a boring mom and kid or spying outside. Even if there was nothing going on, there was the possibility of some kind of secret falling. He started to hop his pot over.

"Flowey?"

Great, it was Frisky's voice. He just growled.

"I think that Chara wants you to learn how to care again," Frisky said. "So, I think we should work on a project together."

Project? He didn't answer. She moved over to him closer and smiled.

"You need to relearn about love and caring. Undyne and Alphys are off track completely. Will you help me bring them together?"

"What?" Flowey whined. "Why would I care about that? Who cares about _that_?! It was a different timeline. It doesn't really matter, who cares?"

"I care." Frisky bent closer to him. "Things repeat in timelines for a reason. They aren't magical you know. Certain events do follow certain events because of the way things were set up, but in the case of feelings? It shouldn't matter about timelines."

Hm?

"It isn't the letter I delivered and the pretend date we went on that got them together," Frisky said. "It was their love. I could do that event all day, but if they didn't love each other at first? It never would have happened." She sighed. "Now, there is a new factor. I don't think Undyne will deliver any letters because Alphys has conduits now, and I don't think she feels comfortable around human children. You know, without wanting to kill them yet. She's got some growing to do. How do you think we could help that?"

"Uhh." Really? Seriously?! "You _just_ married a Skeleton, got trapped Underground for the rest of your life, have to have a baby Skeleton in three months . . . and you're caring about that?!"

"Of course I am," she said it in the most natural tone in the world. "They love each other, and just because an event didn't happen, doesn't mean they shouldn't be happy. I can't force them to be together, but I can help them find their way."

"Why? Why care? You're life _sucks_ , why care about them?" Genuinely. Her life really sucked. Really sucked! He knew so much that happened to her. He had to know. Why care? Why did everyone have to care? And why her most of all?

"Same reason I care about you and Chara. I just do. I care about those I know, and even though you are a hard one to get along with?" She groaned. "Very, _very_ hard. You not caring doesn't change the fact that I care about you too."

Flowey made a sour face. "I don't care about you."

"You don't have to. I just want to help you."

"Why?" Flowey watched her carefully. "Because your life is crap, you have to help others? Is that it? To forget how _horrid_ your life is, you dwell on making anyone else happy?"

"Partly." She wasn't even ashamed to say it. "But not really. My life is hard, but I have Chance in it. I have people and Monsters who care for me. And . . . I don't know. I just get such a good feeling inside when I help others." She shrugged. "You're probably right though. It does make me forget problems in my own life. It might even be an escape device, but, I don't mind. It makes me feel good, and, if I ACT the right way? It makes the other person or Monster feel good too."

"So . . . you want to help them 'cause it's right. Cause you . . . care . . . even if the timeline isn't fit for them anymore?"

"There you go." She patted his flowery head. Flowey didn't move. "That is a very caring way to see the problem." She moved away again to help her son with his crossword puzzle.

 _Everything going on around her. All the hell those humans and Balancers did to her that she even knows of, and . . . and she is still thinking of her friends' love?_ Flowey pulled himself under his own petal. She didn't gain anything from it. She didn't gain anything from helping Chara with him either. Even though he hated being stuffed in a pot, she wasn't doing it to torture him.

And maybe Chara, wasn't doing it to torture him either. _Can I really make a difference?_ He moved further away on his journey, closer to the window to eavesdrop again. He moved the curtain out of the way. Sans and Papyrus were a little out in the distance, probably to make sure the humans didn't hear them. Not real far though, and he could still see them right in their own yard. They were both facing away, staring up.

"I don't know." Sansy had shoved his hands in his coat. "Pap. That other world is bad. If you leave the barrier, don't expect anything pretty. It's bad. It's real, real bad. Mm. Um."

"What's wrong, Sans?" Papyrus asked him. "The humans are safe now. I mean, Chance and Frisky. They are safe now. Sorry, the human and conduit. No wait, he'll be a Monster soon. The human and the half-Monster? Oh, I'll eventually get it. Sans? What's wrong?"

"I care," Sans said. Flowey watched Sans drag his slippered foot through the snow. "It used to take some extreme stuff to make me even _slightly_ care. In the resets. You really don't know."

"We went over this though," Papyrus reminded him. "We are moving along, and you are fine! Nothing else will happen anymore! Nyeh he he he he! A good day every day, a new day every day!"

"I know but I . . . that mean Frisk, she was right. She really was. I would never have lifted a finger until FRISK wiped out everyone. I mean, I-I even . . . I even made _fun_ of it . . . when it wasn't LV 19. I made fun of it for not being _evil_ enough."

Yeah, Flowey knew that. Even before he started to remember the resets, he was the same way. But, that wasn't really his fault.

"My mind's been so toast," Sansy continued, "And . . ."

"It's okay. I can't imagine what I would do if I were stuck looping constantly," Papyrus said. "Don't feel bad. Time is moving. It can't stop anymore."

"Yeah, but. I want to go back."

No! Flowey almost hissed through the window. Never! How could he? They were starting to move, how could he even say that?!

"Huh?" Papyrus stopped looking up and looked at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"To the not caring part? I want to do that again. I want all the Monsters to just _die_ before I feel a pang of anything. Because . . . I . . . I _feel_ . . . and I don't want to."

"Sans?" Papyrus came over to him closer. "Brother? What do you not want to feel? You're rattling? Why are your bones rattling?"

"Cause, I knew. I must have known. Or could have known, but you know, didn't care. I mean, Frisky had Chance. So, I should have known. I could have known. If it were the old me, it wouldn't be anything. If it were the old me, I could just shake this off. But I _can't_ , Pap."

"Is it Chance? Is it Frisky?" Papyrus asked. He came to his brother closer.

"It's everything. The pictures. The erased memories. I thought I had a hold of it all, but then I found out Frisky was experimented on. Experiments. Experiments! But, I should have known cause Chance. Cause, you know, Chance. So, why not again? You know? And-and I think I knew but, I . . . I didn't really care . . . I watched Monsters get viciously killed, why would I care about one . . . and it's not like she died or even remembered. And, and why would I care even if she did? I . . .

"Oh. Well, I don't know what else to say, Sans. Just that, we'll do our best to take care of them now. And if something comes, we will help if necessary."

"Yeah. We will, you're right. I'm sorry we had to do this. I know it's always just been us here. This is kind of a big change."

"No, no, no," Papyrus patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Sans. I know, they are your family. You couldn't just let them go. Besides. My new sister makes great spaghetti! Who knows what else she can make Underground?"

Sans rubbed the front of his skull. "Those . . . manipulators. They took so many from the Underground. Wiped them from our own minds. And now Chance is going to be a Skeleton because he's my kid, and I have to have another one and . . . and I'm a bit freaked out, Pap. I am not made for this kind of thing." Sans wiggled a bit. "We're okay now. We're okay though. I know that, it's just. This is not easy."

* * *

No, thought Flowey. Cause he didn't _know_. If he knew. If the Underground knew.

There were various scales on how things worked with Monsters. Most of them worked at the bottom end. Killing. But, there was so much _more_ to a Monster than just that. In fact, honor played such a huge role Underground. Killing wasn't the worst one could do in the world of Monsters.

There were more. There were more, and Sans had stumbled upon one soo bad, that he should have been able to have _every_ Monster of every age fighting against his enemy if need be!

But . . . he didn't know that. _It'll hurt. Caring will hurt. It will_ _hurt more than one_ _if I share_ _._ But, timelines. As remarkable as it was that those two met in the first place, it was just as remarkable they ended up there. Again. _They have their boy. They are_ _even_ _married_ _this time_ _._ _They just . . . don't know._ He looked back toward Frisky trying to work on the crossword with Chance. _But . . . is the right thing to do, to tell them or not_ _?_ Which was kind? Which was cruel?

* * *

"Sans." Papyrus brought his brother in for a slight hug. "You're . . . you did really well today. You never even fell asleep."

"Hard to considering what I was doing," Sans reminded him. "But, um. Things are better. They'll get better. I refuse to let what happened to that conduit happen to Chance. We've got to stay positive, Pap."

"Yep. That we can do!" Papyrus said enthusiastically. "That we most certainly can do! And we shouldn't worry about Chance like that. He'll be a Skeleton soon. He is correcting himself after everything that was done to him. Why, he might even get a regular grey soul like he should."

"I wouldn't count too hard on it. Anyhow, I guess it's time I tell Frisky a couple of things. Hm. Do you think she figured out that she's got the lifespan of me yet?"

"I don't know," Papyrus confessed. "Humans can be dull-witted."

"No more dull-witted than me. Not seeing it. Right in front of me."

"But lots of humans have blue eyes."

"Not that shade of blue, Pap. Come on. Let's go to bed. I still have some hard talking beforehand, so every minute counts before work."

"Which will be heavier hours. I know, Sans."

* * *

"You'll love it!" Papyrus insisted to Chance. "It's a brand new bed with warm coverings that will keep you from freezing. Follow Uncle Papyrus!" Frisky, Chance, and Sans all headed upstairs.

Papyrus opened his room. "See? It's right on the other side of mine."

"I'm sleeping in your room now?" Chance looked toward his mom. "But, I never sleep away from you."

"Uh." Frisky bent down toward him. "This is just another small change, okay? Give me a hug before bed." She knew what he meant though. Ever since he was a baby, she slept with him right next to her. By soul or by physical body, they were always together. _Of course, what should I expect? Sans is_ _my_ _husband now, and I probably have to share his bed without_ _Chance_ _._

"That small dresser next to your bed is yours too." Papyrus moved over toward the dresser with Chance. "See? It's filled with clothes, including pajamas! Warm, footy pajamas."

Chance picked up the footy pajamas. "I never wear footy pajamas. How do they go on? With the zipper?"

Frisky came over to his side. Footy pajamas. That would really help keep him warm at night. "You just pull the zipper down and step into them with each of your feet. Then, you put your arms in and zip up."

"Oh." Chance lifted them to look at them. "Ok." He shrugged, looked at his mom, and got an extra hug. "Can you help me put them on then?"

* * *

Sans and Papyrus both left the room. Sans moved toward his room and opened the door. His bed coverings were new, warm, and freshly washed with Toriel's help. Frisky and Chance were both _supposed_ to share that bed, while Sans and Papyrus would have shared the racecar bed. But, things changed between a committing and marriage. And they had to move Sans' bed into Papyrus' room, and get a real two Monster bed for him and Frisky.

He wouldn't be able to afford Grillby's for weeks to catch his GOLD back up. Same for Papyrus.

There were two pillows, one for each of them. "Well, at least she invited me to bed last night," he said, trying to be cheerful. "That's a little less awkward. And, it's much better on my neck."

"Yes, that is good."

"Yeah. I really missed a bed." Sans gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. I got a bed and now I have to ** _lie down in it_**."

"That wasn't a good pun." Papyrus patted his brother's shoulder. "Don't start falling into that mood. Just forget that mean Frisk. We are going to be okay."

* * *

"Bedtime, I guess." Chance hugged his mom from outside Papyrus' door.

"Don't worry," Sans interrupted. "You'll get to sleep with your mom sometimes. Just, not tonight. Gotta talk to your mom, so get some rest . . . my kid."

"And you won't be alone. I am going to bed too, and I am right beside you on my bed!" Papryus reminded him. "And, um, the annoying dog. He's . . ." He sighed. "Probably around there too."

"Goodnight, Chance." Frisky waved to him as he went to bed. She looked toward Sans. "Okay. The do's and don'ts I suppose?"

"Eh." Sans yawned. "Come on."

Frisky watched him trot into their room. _Just Sans. Just sleep. I did this last night._ Yeah, but there was a huge difference between that twenty-four hour gap. _I am Frisk. I face everything no matter what._ Feeling her determination return, she went in. Hopefully, she didn't need it. It would be even better if she could just get some sleep.

Sans moved over to his dresser. "I made some space for your stuff. I don't have everything. I kind of ran a little . . . umm."

"Low," Frisky said for him. "New clothes, new table, a dresser, and a new bed. I don't even know how you managed it."

"I didn't. I had to have help from Papyrus." Sans finally gave her the list of do's and don'ts. "Here. It's nothing half bad." He just turned around, walked to his door and leaned against it.

Frisky looked at the Do's and Don'ts. _Do be faithful._ That was a given. _Do be good to your husband. Do give a loving name. What?_ "What's a loving name?"

"Something different, Frisky." Sans just tried to give her a cheerful smile. "I already picked mine. Faith. Don't know why but it just seems to fit." He shrugged. "Close enough to determination for me. Which is good cause I was leaning toward Miss Determination."

"Different? Faith? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, I wondered if humans had that. Well, um?" He looked up and then back at her. "It's a special name when you want to be affectionate. You know, Monsters aren't always known for being affectionate. Half the time some look like they want to bite each other's head off. So it's kind of a cheating way to show you care?"

"You mean like honey or something like that?" Seriously?

"Kind of. Just don't pick a food. It makes me hungry."

 _Oh, Sans._ Frisky just found herself smiling at that statement. "Oh, I have no idea." _Hm. Do not leave your residence for the first three months unless you are following your husband_ _or another chosen guardian_ _around._ "What? What do you mean I can't leave for three months unless I'm following you around?"

"Yep. And Pap, if you didn't guess that. Kind of similar to last time. Nothing new."

"Is this something official?"

"Everything is, Frisky."

Frisky sighed. _Okay, relax. No biggie._ _At_ _least I can be out on patrol for humans_ _since he does guard too_ _._ That was something she wanted anyway. _Do cuddle four_ _out of seven nights a week. Cuddle?_ _How would they enforce that?_ Sans was playing everything by the book though so far. _Appease thy husband's needs._ _What are the needs of a_ _S_ _keleton?_ She glanced at him. He was nearly about to fall over. _He needs a lot of rest. Look at what he's been doing beneath my very nose_ _._ _Sans always needs extra rest._ He managed a lot, and he still took time to try and battle her. He didn't fall asleep during the ceremony either.

Well, need one. She needed to make sure he took more breaks and got more rest. _Okay, not too bad. That would appease his needs. He definitely likes my cooking too. I guess that makes it easier._ _Cooking and sleep._ _That's Sans._ Well, that part was done. Now, the loving name. _I don't know a loving name to give him though. I just don't know_ _. Oh, what else? Three nights out of the week . . ._ Oh. Chance. "Chance gets to sleep with us?"

"Uh, yeah. That unusual? Little Monsters sleep with their parents three nights a week. It's always that way. That's the reason we had to get a new bed."

Oh. That was . . . sweet. And it made her feel so much better.

So much had changed overnight, it was hard to believe she was just a prisoner twenty four hours ago. _Oh._ The next part referenced new children that had taken place in other marriages. Actually, the word was deceased. _There isn't a form of divorce, just death or run away like_ _Toriel_ _._ Hm. By this thing Sans was supposed to reference Chance as his son or his kid. _That must be why he said 'my kid' instead of just kid to Chance._ The don'ts were also quite simple.

Marriage for Monsters was really just a . . . a loving sort of thing. Until she read the bottom. Rights of Vengeance. _Vengeance?_

She was not surprised to see that there was a law on killing a family, but there was so much more. More than she ever knew. Stealing another Monster's wife without killing that Monster? Stealing another Monster's wife and having children with them without killing them? "This is a little . . ."

"Huh?" Sans came from the door and looked at the paper. "What?"

"Vengeance?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah, a Froggit beat down on our door one time and said another Froggit stole its wife, and we had to help it fight." Sans shrugged. "It's a Monster thing."

A Froggit? "That really happened?"

"Yep."

"But." Frisky knew she had an uncertain look on her face. "You don't even get added support when you seek vengeance just for a killed family member by this paper."

"Worse things that death."

 _I guess so._ Apparently, dishonor was very heavy there. "So if you steal something, make sure you kill the Monster?"

"Yep."

 _Fantastic._ Well, they were Monsters. Their way of thinking wouldn't be the same. But the rules of marriage was rather simple. _Kiss before work, after work, before getting out of bed, and at night?_ Oh, that was awkward.

Sans probably noticed her awkwardness. "Ah, you can just kiss my cheekbone tonight. Don't worry so hard about that." He trotted back in front of the door again and leaned against it. "Told you this wouldn't be too bad."

"You're right," Frisky admitted. "This doesn't sound too hard."

"Yeah, much better than what you would have gone through if you failed a mission."


	35. Flowey Knows What He Must Do

_Okay,_ _Flowey_ _. What do you do?_ He bounced his pot on the table heading to the left. _What does_ _Chara_ _want from me? Does she want me to tell them? Am I supposed to tell them? What good would that do? It would hurt them._ _Chara_ _! What do you want from me? If I tell them, they'll be crushed . . . but Sans would be rightfully **prepared**. Forget Papyrus, he'd have the King's backing. _Flowey started hopping to the right. _But it's not like they'll just be able to pick up where they left off. The whole Underground has changed since then. And, they can't remember. There's no way to remember._ "Oh, this is so annoying. I hate having . . . feelings," he admitted and moaned with a gurgle. _"_ They are here already, where it all should be, so . . . yeah but . . ." He stopped hopping.

Oh yeah. "The Underground is completely different and Sans doesn't know anything about _humans_. Not really, not this stuff. And, and Faith doesn't know either. Not about Monsters, not about anything besides what she needed for the mission!"

Oh no. _Naw_ _,_ _naw_ _,_ _naw_ _._ "Really, you couldn't have just killed me instead, Chara?" Great. But yes, there it was. He knew in fact those various changes would be arriving that very night. _Fine. Fine! Let's get this over with._

He knew what he had to do. He moved back to the left. Waiting for his moment. It would hurt. It would hurt Sansy when he knew the truth. But, but it would also hurt Flowey.

Because he hated the idea of what he had to do afterward . . . he took a deep breath and . . . "Oh, caaaaaaaallllliiinng, Smiiiiiiiiiley Traaaaaaaashbaaaaaag! Smiley, Smiley! Trashbag, Trashbag! Smiley, Smiley! Trashbag, Trashbag! And broooothter, Brooooootherr! Bruuuuuuthheeeeeerrrr! HElloooooooOOOooOOOOooOooooooo!

Just as he thought, two extremely annoyed Skeletons poked their heads out of their room.

"What?" Sans asked first.

"I need something." Flowey answered. "I need something underground. And not Underground, but under the Underground. I need you to put me back down, down, down into the ground."

"But you can't go down," Papyrus reminded him. "Lasers, remember."

"I want to try again."

"At this hour?!" Papyrus complained.

"Why yesssirreeeeeebooOOoooooOob!" Flowey said. "I want to go to the ground." He bopped his petaled head back and forth. "Deep into the UndergrooOooound!"

"I don't know." Sans started trotting downstairs with Papyrus. "I'm thinking deep into the windowsill more likely."

"Well, then again, it could be attacked by lasers?"

"Oh yeah." Sans picked up Flowey's pot. "Fine. Down into the ground you go."

"Great! Cause if I can get down . . . then I can give you something, Sans. Something . . . you'd really, really want." Flowey tried to temp them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Chance asked as he poked his head out of Papyrus' room.

"Uh, just taking care of this annoying flower," Papyrus insisted. "Just go to sleep. We shall be back shortly."

"Yeah, we're going to watch a laser show," Sans said as he opened the front door. Snow started to blow in.

"No, I hate snow! I hate the cold!" Flowey complained as they moved outside. Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Of course, if he didn't, things would have gotten worse.

"You're the one who wanted the ground that bad, Buddy. Bad enough to interrupt me when I was **_really_** not in the mood to be interrupted." Sans set the pot down in the middle of the snow. "Go for it."

Flowey cringed but looked at the Brothers. "There's something else . . . there's something I know about your Frisky . . ." Ooh. Yep. He had their attention now. "I'm going to bring up something, and it's not going to be pretty."

He watched Sans starting to look at the stars. "I already know a bunch about her. I don't want to see anything more. I don't want pictures. I don't want data off an MP. Just keep it."

"True," Papyrus agreed. "She is here, we have Chance, and that's all we need to know."

Boneheads. Both of them were boneheads. "It's not a bad picture. It's . . . a good picture?" What he said next wasn't technically lying. "It's a picture of her family."

Sans shared a look toward Papyrus and back towards him. "You've got a picture of her family? Are you sure?"

Flowey bobbed his petals.

"I don't know." Sans shrugged. "I've seen pictures of others too, but without memories, it doesn't mean anything."

Geez, he was a hard one! "Shouldn't she make that choice?" Flowey suggested.

"I don't know, Sans," Papyrus groaned. "He's an evil flower. Right?"

"Fine, if you don't want it, I won't get it! But I'll tell her! I'll tell her later that she had the chance to see it, but you guys blew it for her!"

"Ah, there's the evil part of the flower," Sans joked. "Fine. We'll take the picture."

"Not without an answer," Flowey said back cheerily. "I'll give it to you for an answer."

"This is so annoying. We need to get back!" Papyrus shouted.

"What's the question," Sans humored him halfway.

"What . . . is the worst offense to a Monster?" Flowey asked gently. "Name it."

"Killing?" Papyrus tried.

"Oh please, Monsters kill all the time," Flowey insisted.

"Taking another Monster's land," Sans added.

"No, no, no. Way off."

"Ooh!" Papyrus held up his bony index finger. "Killing the innocents in a family."

"Getting closer."

"Oh. Oh yeah. Remember that Froggit?" Sans said to Papyrus. "Yeah. Stealing another Monster's wife while it's still alive."

"Getting really close."

"Then . . ." Papyrus tried. "Stealing another Monster's family while it's still alive?"

"Oh. You're really, really, close."

"You really better have a picture. I hate putting effort into stuff." Sans scratched his skull. "Stealing another Monster's family while it's still alive, and adding to it."

"Oh yes, that's it. That is indeed the worst offense ever," Papyrus said. "Trying to reclaim it for it's own."

"Or . . ." Flowey added slowly. "Stealing another Monster's family, while it's still alive, and **_trying_** to add to it." Both of them still didn't get it. "It's the worst thing ever, in our world. Isn't it? Monsters, creatures with such little feeling, will actually go out and _fight_ for the smallest of Monsters for it." Flowey poked himself into the ground and traveled deep.

Deep, deep under the ground. Past the spot where there used to be resets. In the little glitch spot where he had always kept his MP's and tiny souvenirs from forgotten timelines. He only had to dig a little before he found it. _Am I sure about this? I could just_ _not go up and pretend it was all a joke. That would be evil. They would think that would fit me._

But, he couldn't. Sansy deserved to know, and when he found out, he'd want his brother right there. Flowey looked at the old picture. A little worn, mostly from his not taking care of it. Because, it was just a souvenir. And he didn't care.

 _Caring hurts._ He sighed and headed back up with it. He poked his petally head back up and saw them, waiting for it. Not knowing exactly how that little photo would change everything. "I want to tell you a story first."

Sans kicked snow with his slipper and Papyrus whined.

"Just give us the picture!" Papyrus demanded. "We already played your games."

"It's a quick story, but it's a sad story. It's a real sad story. But, it's a quick story?" Flowey offered.

"Already did this much." Sans gestured to Flowey. "Better be a quick story."

"Once upon a time, there was an Underground where humans could roam," Flowey said. "They had already tricked the king into believing that seven human souls wouldn't work, just like they did this time. Only after that, they actually started to come down, little by little. Just little, by, little. One day, while traveling to and fro one human in incognito accidentally bumped into a Monster that was too lazy to walk home from a laboratory. The result gave her amnesia for some time, and during that time, she grew used to the Underground. Said lazy Monster helped take care of her a little day by day. Starting with a little food. A little more GOLD. Until she was so integrated into his life, that they lived together."

"Is this really going to be short?" Papyrus whispered to Sans.

"I don't know," Sans whispered back. "Can we put some comedy into the story? It's boring."

"No, it's my story!" Flowey shouted. "Anyhow, said Monster liked said human. And, even though it's very rare, and very _hard_ to do, somehow they actually found a little thing called love."

"LOVE isn't rare at all," Papyrus added. "You just need to murder enough Monsters."

"Right, Bro."

"No." Boneheads. "Not levels of violence, love, love. The heart kind of sickening caring love. And . . . said caring love lead to marriage."

"I forgot to brush the human's teeth before bed. That human book said humans were supposed to brush their teeth before bed," Papyrus said over to Sans. "Should we do that when we go back inside? He's probably already up moving about."

"I'm telling a story!" Flowey shouted at them again.

"Sorry." Sans looked toward Papyrus. "Nah, he'll be a Skeleton soon anyhow. Then they can't fall out."

"I am telling a storyyyy!" Flowey complained. "Others watching them did not like said love between a Monster and a human. It was disgraceful, disgusting and impure! And so . . ." Neither brother was looking at him seriously yet. "The human woman, Faith, was placed into a reset timeline, over and over while a conduit was sent in, to try and . . . and figure it out. But the Underground can only handle so much . . ." Each brother was starting to pay attention now. "And so, they came up with a new plan. They'd reboot, but, they'd reboot without the human. Memories wiped of her. And they took her . . . out. You see, forgotten timelines? They don't matter. They don't have a purpose. They are _pointless_ ," Flowey said as he raised his stem and dropped the picture into Sans' hand. "Only when something isn't yanked out of them."

Papyrus looked over at the picture. "Oh, not the bunny ears! I hate when you give me the bunny ears! When did we take a picture of that at the wedding? Why is Frisky sooo . . . big?"

"I didn't get the tie on," Sans said too. "I never managed to get the black tie on."

"Yes, come to think of it, I wasn't . . . I wasn't wearing that," Papyrus added. "It had been so spur of the moment. And, and that's not Grillby's in the background."

"That's the castle. That's King Asgore's castle." Sans looked toward Flowey. "Marriage doesn't happen there unless it's . . . what . . ."

"I told you before," Flowey said softly. "For being sooooooo smart, you're still soooooo stupid." He shook his petaled head back and forth. "Humans are idiots compared to Monsters. They couldn't have figured it all out. Chance wasn't any kind of an experiment that was successful from the others. Chance was . . . a happy accident."

"Happy? Accident?" Papyrus looked back toward the picture.

"The only thing they figured out . . . was 'light it up'." Oh. There it was. Flowey moved back a bit as he sensed Sans finally pulling it all together. But, his role was far from over.

It was just beginning. He moved back into the torturous little plant pot, and waited.

Waited for Smiley Trashbag's next move.


	36. Monster Instinct

Sans was still fairly quiet. Papyrus hadn't let go of him, just hanging onto him for dear life. "Um." He still didn't know what to say as he looked at the picture. Frisky was still as short as him. The wedding dress was still the same. It was definitely him. That was definitely his bony fingers giving Papyrus bunny ears in the picture. He looked down from the picture to the flower sitting back in the pot.

He just went back to the picture again.

"I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry Saaaaans!" Papyrus cried on him.

"Yeah." Sans patted his back. "Just, it's alright. Um." He looked back at the flower again. "So. Yanked, huh? That's . . ." He. He didn't really know what to say. Normally, forgotten timelines didn't matter. FRISK taking all of the Monsters out. Watching Papyrus die. Going to the surface for a few minutes. But, none of it mattered. None of it. But. "Um."

"Look at that? Look at that big smile on you, hardly any Skeleton has ever looked that happy!" Papyrus pulled him closer to his embrace, almost choking him. "You were supposed to be married!"

"Am."

"You were supposed to be a dad!"

"Am."

"Yeah, but, this is all . . . well, it's different!" Papyrus pulled him even closer.

"Let's not break my bones," Sans warned him. "Papyrus, no! Not that!" He felt himself getting lifted off the ground up into his brother's arms. Usually he didn't do that. Papyrus was really hurting for him. "Papyrus, it's okay. Easy. You don't get it. I don't remember. Easy, easy." Sans scrambled more for the actual ground. "Papyrus, put me down. Come on, it's okay, really."

"But you had your family stolen, Sans!" Papyrus squeezed him even harder. "That is the worsest of the worsest of the . . ." Papyrus gasped. "And-and-and they even tried to give her _more_ children that were not yours?! That's the absolute worst thing! They tried to _claim_ your family away from you!"

"Pretty bad, I get it, come on, down." Sans struggled in his brother's embrace. "Pap, down!"

"But they, but they, but they!"

"Forgotten timeline. Forgotten is the keyword here. Let me down."

"But you don't get it, Sans! This one is important!"

"I understand that," Sans said, "but keeping me up in the air isn't going to change anything."

Papyrus finally put him down. Sans brushed himself off as he looked toward the flower. "Boring story?"

"Yeah. Your story," Flowey answered back. "Your boring life story."

Sans shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "That's weird to hear. I mean, she was almost my sister." Flowey actually snickered.

Papyrus gasped. "That's right, we almost . . . you almost made a sister of your already wife."

"Almost wife. They never married. They just kept getting killed over and over beforehand."

Sans rubbed his jawbone. "You know. I, uh. I don't really know what to do with this." He shoved the picture in his coat. "A part of me wants to forget it. Just go on like I don't know. I mean, it's just another timeline. Another set of memories I'll never remember. And they don't matter-"

"But Sans-"

"But it did. I mean, even if I don't remember . . ." Sans looked toward Papyrus. "Um." He looked back toward Flowey. "What happened when they were yanked?"

Flowey sighed. "Your kid wasn't . . . wanted. So, they did the same thing they always do with what they don't want. Turned it into a re-reset or Conduit. But, you know Frisky and her determination. They noticed _that_ too. And, considering she actually held a half-Monster Conduit abomination to term? They decided she would be an excellent candidate for a Soul Soldier. Plus, until she learned to fight, they got 'bonus' time to see what else she could handle." He bopped his head around. "Don't worry, Smiley Trashbag! It wasn't the same way you made Chance! No, humans and Balancers don't bother with a _physical_ way anymore, it's all surgical and soul surgeries now. Makes better, stronger, soldiers."

"And that's supposed to be cheery?!" Papyrus shouted. "They. Took. Sans'. Family!"

"Sssh." Sans tried to soothe him while he looked back to the flower. "So. So."

Flowey bopped his head around. "Sorry! Trying to stay warm, warm, warm!" Then he stopped. "I did not just apologize, did I?"

"Kay. Uh. So. Heh, kay? Um. I've never even dated before."

"Aww, that's so surprising," Flowey teased him. "Who wouldn't want a stumpy Skeleton who made puns and fart jokes all day eating burgers?"

"You're not being nice!" Papyrus warned it.

"It's true though, Papyrus." Sans had to agree. "I mean, never tried anyhow. There's no one really . . . well, you didn't either."

"Well, I tried once," Papyrus reminded him. "The human seemed like it liked me. I felt popular and cool."

Flowey just groaned. "You two are hopeless."

"Fine, okay, in some timeline I actually . . . dated?" Sans said with uncertainty. "And . . ."

"And _physically_ got involved with a human!" Flowey winked to drive the point home. "Chance was a happy accident. Happy. _Accident_. So you had to get married."

"Oh. Ooh." Sans cringed slightly. "Same reason. Sort of."

"It wasn't bad though," Flowey said. "The royal family was happy to have a union of a Monster and a human! It seemed like it would bring good things. So much so, you were invited to have your wedding at the Royal castle itself. And as you can see from the picture? You weren't sad about it either."

"You were very, very, happy." Papyrus wiped his tears away. "Sans, I can't quit manifesting tears!"

"Okay. So, Frisky and I, had Chance. And, I was marrying her. And then." He shook his skull. "I was marrying Frisky pregnant, and then she was taken and-and . . ."

"Sans, it's okay." Papyrus insisted.

"Um." Sans found himself with his problem from earlier, and his brother's new problem. Manifesting tears. He wiped them on his coat. "Um. So! Hey! My _whole_ family was taken away, experimented on, forced to be soldiers, and I just got to keep on going and forget all about them. Well, that's . . . kay. Nothing new. I guess. From the other pictures. Just the same. Except for the soldier thing. Fine. So. Is there something I can kill? Anything I can kill?" He looked toward Papyrus. "Any bad humans around here I can kill? I just want to kill, I need to kill something. Now. I gotta kill something now. Anything. **_Now!_** "

"Sans, calm down!" Papyrus held him tight again. "That's your Monster instinct taking hold, but you don't need to do that! Work through it. You have to work through it. You don't want to kill a Gyftrot or something. You'll feel bad later."

This time, Sans held tightly to him. "I don't remember, but, but this one hurts!" He knew Frisky. He knew Chance. He didn't know them in that time, but he _knew_ them now. It wasn't just random Skeletons and Monsters he'd never known in forgotten pictures, and to think of it hurt. It hurt!

"I know. I've got you." Papyrus tried to work with him. "You have your son! He's up and about probably in the house even though he should be sleeping. You know him. And, you have your wife! She's upstairs, waiting for you. And, and they'll be here every day. Every day from now on!"

"Yanked away. I reset, and they didn't. I reset, but they didn't. They were just . . .yanked . . ." Sans shook his skull. "I don't care, I'm finding something to kill!"

"No, no! Sans, don't make me call Undyne!" Papyrus warned him. He tried to hold Sans back, but it wasn't going to matter.

Nothing mattered. No one cared how anyone hurt. No one cared about what had been taken away. No one cared about his own kid, or taking away his body for others to control. No one cared about Frisky except to see what they could do with her determination. No one cared to let him have years of his _own_ life. Nothing mattered. No one cared. Nothing mattered. No one cared.

"I called Undyne, she is coming quicky quick! Stop Sans!"

Nothing mattered. No one cared. Nothing mattered. No one cared.

Nothing mattered.

No one cared.

It was pointless.

It was all pointless.

"What's going on?" Undyne asked as she arrived by Papyrus' side.

"Oh, bad things!" Papyrus grabbed his head. "The worst offense ever has been committed, and Sans' Monster instinct is raging too hard for me to control!"

"Worst offense?" Undyne didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

"In the resets? You know, the thing that Sans and the brilliant Alphys pulled us out of?" Papyrus tried to explain in a hurry. "He was married with Frisky and she was pregnant with Chance, and they were taken away. Out of the Underground before the reset. Chance is truly his! His, his, and Frisky was his! Once upon a time, and then, they were hurt a lot. A lot. And, and he is-"

"Frisky and Chance were _his_ family and taken away?" Undyne held out her spear. "That offense. That offense is so **_great_**."

"Oh yes, and, they um. They tried to give her even more kids. But, it didn't work. But. Um. His Monster blood is boiling!"

"Mine would be too!" Undyne squeezed her hand together in a tight fist. "It already is thinking about this injustice."

"But I can't calm him down, Undyne! He wants to kill something to ease the pain!"

Undyne nodded and headed after him. He was leaving Snowdin which was good, but his power really was raging. She could see ground underneath the snow, and traces of his blue magic on the snow glittering around the area. Right now, it sounded like he was running on complete Monster instinct. He wasn't himself, and he would barely even remember what he did when he was done.

She found him heading into Waterfall and held him up. Before she spoke a word, she saw his eye sockets. There was an eye. An eye flashing between flames of blue and yellow. "Sans! I understand the rage burning inside from this injustice," she announced, "but, you are going to hurt something. You do not want to hurt an innocent Monster, do you? We will help you get your justice. This will NOT go unpunished, but you need to pull yourself together long enough!"

"No one." His voice was deep. Cold. Almost cruel. "No one can get justice but me. It's _mine_."

"Okay. But your justice is not out here," Undyne tried again.

"Yes it is."

"It might be, but, you will hurt others through the process. I cannot allow that." Undyne held her spear up high. "Calm the boiling blood long enough for us to see our King." She wanted to say more, but found herself pulled into an encounter.

With Sans.

He was so out of control, he didn't even understand what he was doing anymore.

"Undyne!" Papyrus shouted carrying something over to them. A kid. Sans' kid. "Stop!" He moved over toward Sans. "Looky, look! It is your boy! He has an extremely confused look on his face, but he's here!" He stepped toward Sans. "Stop the encounter, Brother. Undyne isn't who you want to fight. Come on, Looky!"

 **Undyne** **: ACT: Talk.** "I don't know if he has that kind of attachment to it, Papyrus. Sans hasn't gotten very close to it. That is risky, don't!"

"But we have to try," Papyrus protested. "You can't fight him because he'll-"

Sans started to raise his arm up.

"No time. Chance!" Papyrus flipped him to look at him. "Sans said you learned magic with a ball?" Chance nodded. "Good. Try and 'move' Sans like the ball, okay?"

Undyne wanted to yell for him to stop. There was no guarantee Sans wouldn't hurt his own boy, his fury was boiling! But, it was not her turn on the board. Instead she just tapped her spear hard on the ground. Papyrus was holding Chance toward Sans with blue flames licking at him. She squeezed her eyes shut.

When she opened them, she saw Papyrus right next to Sans, with Sans' little human boy in his arms. The blue flames were still licking all over him, but he wasn't fighting anymore.

He walked away from the encounter, not even bothering with the flee button.

"Uh, Sans?" Papyrus called after him, but he was just leaving. Just walking away with Chance back into the snow. "Um?"

* * *

Chance just watched behind Sans. He had no idea what was going on. After Sans and Papyrus went out with the flower, he just went back downstairs to figure out the crossword puzzle again. After just a few minutes, Papyrus just fled into the house and grabbed him. He didn't say anything just took a shortcut into Waterfalls border.

Sans was on fire. Like, an evil blue fire he'd never seen before. He had a pulsating color to his eye and he looked like he was about to fight. Then, Papyrus told him to move Sans and pushed him into Sans like luggage.

Then Sans walked off with him. He was still glowing with all the blue though. Chance didn't know if his eye socket still had the scary eye, but he didn't exactly want to look. He just kept his arms wrapped around Sans and continued to keep his magic on him like he used to do with the ball. They walked out further into the snow. Chance kept his magic on Sans like Papyrus said to, but he was getting really cold. The weather was supposed to be unsafe soon. And, the flames coming from Sans weren't warm. They were cold. Icy cold. He started to shiver.

But then, he felt something warm beneath him, and then all over him. Sans was warming him up? "Sans? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." It was weak, but Chance understood it. "Yep."

"Um. Where are we going?" Chance asked, feeling more comfortable with him again.

"Oh. I don't know." Sans stopped. He pulled Chance off of his arm. "You're a good kid, my kid." He pulled him in closer for a hug as he turned around. "Do me a favor? Um. Don't tell your mom about this, okay?"

"Like a secret?" Chance asked.

"Yeah. Kind of like a secret."

Sans came back toward Undyne and Papyrus. "Uh. Think I was about to fight? Sorry about that."

"Doesn't matter." Undyne grabbed his bony hand and pushed her other hand over it. "This offense will _not_ go unpunished. I assure you, we will find the ones who hurt you, and you may have the honors of the blows. If we have to march out of this barrier, every Monster far and wide to find them, we will!"

"Could we not concentrate on that?" Papyrus offered.

"Yeah. Um. Not right now. What's done is done." Sans looked toward Chance. "You really shouldn't be out here like this. It's way too cold, my kid."

Chance just pointed toward Papyrus.

"Well, I had to try something," Papyrus reminded him. "You were about to kill Undyne."

"Fight," Undyne corrected him.

"You were about to fight Undyne," Papyrus corrected himself. "I couldn't calm you down. So."

His son's own magic. A familiar bond magic. The same reason Chance could absorb his in the first place in Judgment Hall. It must have called him back to his senses along with Papyrus'. That's why his brother was the greatest. He _always_ kept control. "Thanks, Papyrus. Come on, Chance. Let's go home."

* * *

"There we go. He is safely back in bed. At least for now," Papyrus said as he came back over toward Sans. The evil but poor flower had been cold, but Sans was actually using his magic to keep it a little warmer.

Papyrus patted his shoulder. "He is down. Everything is fine. Okay?"

"Okay," Sans agreed. "I'm alright. It's just that I knew them. I even created one of them. So. Tougher."

"Okay. Yes. Yes, yes," Papyrus agreed. "They are safe now. No more of those disgusting resetty things. So, I guess. What's next?"

"Just go on like usual," Sans said. "But, this doesn't leave here. No one tells Frisky. It'll make her feel weird."

"Faith by the way," Flowey said. "She was called Faith back then."

"You mean, the name that Sans came up with for a loving name? The one he was belting puns out with left and right?" Papyrus looked at him. "You came up with that on your own."

"He did last time too. She had amnesia, and he thought 'it fit'," Flowey said.

"Just. Felt right." Sans closed his eye sockets. "This is big and weird."

"Right. But, tomorrow I will talk to Undyne more and she can talk to King Asgore," Papyrus said. "This is a very big deal! If the humans responsible for hurting her is here-"

"Balancers." Sans voice grew cold. "They run the show _too_."

"Don't let your Monster instinct take control again," Papyrus warned him. "Um. Just go upstairs to Frisky. Faith. Whatever you want to call her, and do your own thing."

"Okay. That stuff. What happened to them, it's important. It happened. I can't change that. The fact that they are my family, that's important. Chance is mine, always has been mine, I was engaged to Frisky, and now were married. Just. The feelings. Um. I don't know." He shrugged. "I mean. Do I . . . do I still like her that way?"

"Oh, I have a book to help!" Papyrus exclaimed as he pointed up with his bony index finger. "It's called How to Know You Should Try a Date, First Edition!"

"Yeah, 'cause the human wanting to date because it didn't fight you made real sense," Flowey teased him. Then Papyrus got the book, brought it back and showed it to him. "If an opponent resists fighting you over and over, they might want a date. If an opponent flirts with you, they might want a date. If an opponent keeps getting captured and recaptured they might want a date. What is this?!"

"I don't think I need that," Sans interrupted. "I already got the marriage and family."

"Yeah, you just need a little thing called love!" Flowey said happily. "And I don't have the right kind of friendliness pellets for that." He snickered. "But you might."


	37. Honest About Kindness

When Sans returned to the room, he saw Frisky still standing there. He remembered exactly what the last thing he said to her was before Flowey called him over.

Frisky didn't smile. "Why did you say that last part? Before you left?"

"Oh. Uh." Alphys. Alphys mentioned it in the message. He could just lie. Save it. But . . . he knew she still needed to confess herself for their Soul bearing. And if he just got the biggest secret of all time to deal with that night, then getting the rest of this over would be easier than saving it. Then, they could just move on. "I said it was much better than what you would have gone through if you failed a mission, Frisky."

* * *

Frisky fidgeted slightly. _Okay, relax. I don't know how much he knows. Besides, okay, it's just Sans. Just. Sans. This isn't like genocide._ Yet, it felt very awkward. The way he said it, and then him taking off with Flowey for about twenty minutes or so? What was he doing? Getting more information? "Oh?"

"Oh? That it?"

Frisky stayed still as he approached her. It felt like Judgment Hall the way he was approaching her. _Calm down. Sans isn't going to kill you. He just knows your deepest and darkest secrets, that's all. Or maybe not. What all does he know?_

"Calm down," he said. "Little talk, that's all. Then, bed. Kay?"

Little talk. Then bed. But what little talk? "Okay."

"Good. The Frisks and I played a little game of pretend in the forest," he started. "Cause we did see each other before then. They came to save you from the Soul bearing. Actually," he chuckled. Not quite a happy chuckle. "Friskay _actually_ threw up an encounter between me, King Asgore and Queen Toriel."

Oh, Friskay. "Sorry to hear that."

"Sure." He clicked his tongue. He kept clicking his tongue, like he just discovered he could do that. He yawned. "So, you were going to get whipped for each time you or Chance was called something else, huh?"

She refused to answer.

"Or, you know, the whole killing your sister to get her PACIFIST card. That wasn't good."

She refused to answer.

"Or the pregnancy experiments and mindwipes."

Okay. Not. Something she liked to share. _Fine, he knows_ _some_ _._ "Which one talked to you?"

"Friskarino."

 _Little traitor_ _. He didn't have to share everything_. "Fine. What about it?"

He was quiet for a second before stepping closer. "I consider using him cheating for Soul bearing. He probably got a lot of details, but there were _seven_ of you inside one kid. So, I want to hear it from you. Make sure I got the facts straight."

Dang this marriage thing. "I don't like talking about it. It doesn't help to think about these things. They interfere with encounters and chances of success. Is this necessary?" He nodded his head. "Fine. Yes, I would have received punishment for the name. There are varying degrees of things I could have done to receive punishment. That is just the way it is. Yes, I got my own sister killed in an ACT. That is true. Is that enough?"

He was shaking his head. Hmph. "Chance was born successfully. After he was born, I could have returned to a civilian status. But, I chose not to, so that I could keep him. That's what records show. From that point on it was wiped out. After that, according to records, I failed. Then, I failed again. Neither survived, and I have not failed since." Was that enough? No, he still knew she had more. "I don't remember the process, but I know what it is. It's the reason . . ." She looked up a second. "Friskay, my KINDNESS Frisk, is the way she is and why she remembers." Was that good? No. _Damn, come on._ "You will have to give me some kind of indicator as to what you want me to say?"

"Stop with the soldier thing," he finally spoke. "You always do that when you get uncomfortable."

"Justifiably." Hmph. "What? I can't explain the whole process, I just know . . . it involves the essences. Injections into the stomach. Apparently, the essences can be so strong that they can affect the mind afterward. So, mindwipe. Unless . . ." The part she did not want him to know. "Unless you really, really . . . make them upset."

"So Friskay made them upset? What did she do?"

"She was on a mission in the grassy jungles. No one came for her when her mission was complete. Not her fault. So, she got to know the residents. Got involved. When they found her living among everyone like she actually belonged there, they knew which punishment to use." She sighed. "If Friskay knows you know, she'll try and kill you."

"Injections to the stomach, with essences themselves?" He closed his eye sockets. "That's not right. That's not souls."

"It's just simplifying it, I don't know the science. They just push it all in with DNA at the same time. The DNA creates the body and the usual soul is pushed outward for the essences. So, it's not natural. Which is why afterwards there are injections of all kinds of chemicals to try and give it chances to survive." Frisky shook her head. "It's quite horrible. And, if it _does_ find a way to get a dominating essence, then it's offspring is weakened to the chance of being a re-reset or conduit instead." She sighed. "I imagine I would feel something from these words if I remembered."

"So. If you ever got caught down here?"

"HONEST. The one who sings in the corner. She no longer represents her soul name, she just blurts out whatever she wished. Sometimes, it would get us killed. Sometimes, it was endless screaming. It was what she felt, so she had the official okay to be HONEST. She was picked for the same reasons PERSEVERANCE was. A foul-up, and she only grew worse."

"So. If you ever got caught down here?"

That long schpiel didn't make it any easier, and it was clear he still remembered his question. Her ACT of distraction wouldn't work. "I would either end up singing all day and become HONEST because I can't be mindwiped anymore, or I would be the opposite of what I am. Like Friskay. I would have no more DETERMINATION. I would be . . . cowardice." She took a deep breath. "But, every Frisk faces its fears, and I refused to take Chance away from you."

Ooh. He didn't know that much. _That's what he was fishing for. I knew it._

"If you get caught, they are going to scramble your head? Irreversibly?"

"Unless I agree to be subservient to a higher soldier."

"That guy Conner."

"Friskarino actually covered him too?" She rolled her eyes. _What did he do,_ ** _bore_** _him with my life story?_ "Yes. That guy Conner."

"Huh. So. Insanity, that guy Conner, or pretty much kill yourself?"

 _I really hate when he talks this way._ "Yes."

"Oh. So, you are risking hell on your mind for me to stay with Chance? Got it."

"Every Frisk faces its fears," she repeated again. "I didn't want you to know that though. But, remember, you _promised_ that if I did this willingly you would do your best to not make me feel like a prisoner," she said to him. "There's risk in everything I do, but I'm not playing 'let's stay inside the house forever' anymore then I would play 'let's stay in the ruins forever'." She looked back at him. "Well?" What was that look?

He wasn't saying anything.

"Come on," she said firmly. "Okay, you know it. You got your Soul bearing. _Don't_ break your promise."

He stepped up closer to her. "The annoying human Conner? You had to give up your freedom for him, right?" She heard his slipper tapping on the floor slowly but rhythmically. "Come on. I'm lazy but I'm pretty smart too. Chance not having to be jumped in anymore? You not having to go through any missions? That's pretty good digs to me, even for freedom. Sounds almost as good. How come you wouldn't just pick that?"

No, no. He was forcing her into territory again she did not want to share. Besides, it was Sans. Why would he even _care_? Even having to go through these details. She didn't want to. "I . . . I don't want to have the DETERMINATION to be subservient. I would still have kids, but it would be . . . more . . . physical, but I'm married now anyhow, so who cares, it's not an option, are we done with this yet?" She said it in a hurry. She didn't want to talk to Sans about _that_.

 _I mean. That was._ What Conner had wanted was physical procreation activities. Outdated approach just for fun. She really didn't want to delve into that topic. Least of all with Sans.

She watched him jingle his hands in his coat while his slippered foot continued to tap. _He had better not be thinking of ways to trap me in this house. Even_ _Toriel_ _learned that humans need some freedom._ He continued to tap. What else could he want? Friskarino clearly told him the tragedy of her sister. He knew about the experimentation. He even knew what would happen if she got caught. So, what?

He stopped tapping his slipper and pulled a bottle of catsup out of his coat and drank it down. After it was gone, he put it back away in his coat. "Do you remember how mad I had to be at Judgment Hall before I fought?"

 _Mad?_ _About what? What did I do?_ _!_

"Friskay did. Yeah, I, uh, I didn't put up a fight pretty much ever. Not really unless FRISK got LV 19. Pretty much taking out everything between Judgment Hall and the Ruins," he said. "I . . . I just really don't like to fight." He shrugged. "I really don't. It sucks."

She almost took a step back when he came forward, but didn't. Whatever problem he had she had to face it straight on.

She watched his bony hand reach out for hers and say something she wasn't prepared for.

"No one is going to hurt you or Chance. I consider anyone, anything, and _especially_ 04823 coming after you. LV 19. Even if it's PACIFIST, Faith."

04823\. The one who killed her sister. The one who kept wanting to try for a conduit with her amount of DETERMINATION. She didn't even bring him up, but. LV 19. He's . . .

If anyone came after her . . . he was going to fight for her? He even used the loving name? She was so shocked from that reveal that she didn't even know how to handle what came next. He hugged her. "No one fights for me. Others help in battle, but no one fights for me. I am Frisk. I'm Frisk. I'm-"

"Mine forever now. Like it or not."

Hmm? Frisky knew from her warm cheeks she was blushing. Then, she felt him actually lift her slightly off the ground. _Sans!_ She felt him put her back down.

* * *

Keeping it together was hard. He wouldn't manifest tears again, he willed everything back really hard. He just kept himself his old loose bones. Even leaving catsup in his pocket. All he knew he could get away with was a hug.

The way she said it, it was like . . . he wouldn't even care. Like she was sharing something so private to someone who wouldn't even care about it as much more than a footnote. 'Oh, yeah, I had two unborn kids through experimental manipulation by the same guy that killed my sister but whatever'. That hurt. But, it was true.

 _"Hmm. Over LV 14, huh._ _Well, hmm . . . j_ _udgment-wise . . . you're a pretty bad person. You wander around looking for people killing them to take their money. That's just plain messed up. And w_ _hat's worse, is that as bad as you are . . . you aren't anywhere as bad as you could be. You pretty much suck at being evil. Honestly, it's super embarrassing, but maybe you'd be better . . . at not killing anyone? Crazy idea, huh? Let me know how that one_ _goes."_

If he didn't care about hundreds of Monsters dying. Not until they were completely taken out by FRISK at LV 19. Then, why would she _think_ he cared about what happened to her? Because he wouldn't have. Not before. Nothing really mattered before. Life was pointless.

But . . . not anymore. In fact, he even felt like it was high time he told her everything too. Even the big truth about them would come out one day. Getting just a couple rounds of magic truth was like drinking a brewski or two. Not much more truth was going to flow that he couldn't control.

But, he didn't want to hide anything from her. Hiding stuff just wasn't easy. Slowly, over time, he swore to himself he'd tell her everything.

For now. He moved away from her. "Hey." He closed one of his eye sockets. "Did you ever notice how pretty your eyes were?" Yeah, that was a look of confusion. "Really pretty blue. Almost, this color?" She was a little taken back when his blue magic surrounded him, but only for a few seconds. "Oh, and hey. Chances eyes have that pretty color too. Right?"

"Um. Yeah." Frisky squinted at him, clearly trying to figure out what he was saying. "What about it?"

"Connection, Frisky. We're all connected." She still didn't get it. "A long, long, time ago Monsters _did_ actually get with humans. Really, really ancient text. So. Do you know what happened?" Clueless. "Eye color change."

"Okay? That's great?"

"Yeah. I felt kinda stupid for not figuring out the Chance thing. Pretty obvious now."

"Yeah, it's fine."

"The eye color matched the monster's magic."

"An interesting fact?" She raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you ready for bed now?"

"Maybe. We have the rest of our lives." Yeah, over time he'd share everything. There was no rush though. They probably had centuries together. "Do you want to know another cool thing about eyes? They can ** _see_** possibilities. They can ** _see_** an endless **_sea_** of possibilities." Yeah, she was starting to get annoyed. "Come on, I had some left. What did you expect?"

"Technically **_eye_** overheard you punning Papyrus to death for the dinner pots," she reminded him.

"What, those count? They weren't to you." He kicked his slipper up with a small shuffle. "Bummer. Welp, okay. Bedtime then." He let her get in first so he could have the side. "Night, Frisky. Oh, wait. You need your pajamas." He got out and went over to the dresser. "It's gonna be negative fifty degrees celsius with heavy winds. Don't want you to die tonight. That would be a bad first day of marriage. Oh, here we go."

* * *

Oh good. Furry blue PJ's, matching top and bottom. Nice. They would help keep her warm.

"Don't worry either, Chance's little bed is right next to Papyrus. If he gets cold, Papyrus will just warm up the blanket. I showed him how to do that." He handed her pajamas to her. "There you go."

But he wasn't moving. "You want me to get dressed?"

"Nice to **_see_** you see the obvious."

Uhh . . . then why wasn't he leaving? It's not like she could go to the bathroom. There was no door to that room except the outside balcony. "Okay." He still wasn't moving. "Could you give me a second?"

He seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

He remembered. He must have remembered. When he helped with her back, he gave her a few minutes alone to take her shirt off and cover up. He gave her a little privacy with her son all the time before bed. "If you want me to change then I need some privacy."

Then, a strange thing happened. He looked . . . offended? "Huh? You're my wife now."

Uh, no. He expected her to get naked in front of him? After one night? She had less than 24 hours to get used to being a Skeleton's wife, and he expected her to just _what_? He was just tapping his slipper up and down. That move took a lot of DETERMINATION to pull off, and it wasn't a battle.

"Oh, caaaaaaaallllliiinng Smiiiiiiiiiley Traaaaaaaashbaaaaaag! Paaaaging the Smiiiiiiiileeeeyyy Iiiiiiddiiiiiiiooooot!

"Not again," Sans muttered. Frisky watched Sans leave and quickly grabbed the PJ's. _Thank you,_ _Flowey_ _!_


	38. Flowey the Matchmaker

"Well, hiiii, Saaaaaansy! Sansy, Sansy, Sansy." Flowey bopped his petaled head around as Sans climbed down the stairs.

"So. This is like the second time you did this tonight. And. I still don't know how I feel about the first one. So. You better have a _real_ good excuse for doing that," Sans said, "or out the windowsill you go. And it's already getting super, super cold."

"I want to take a walk," Flowey said.

"A what?"

"I want a walk. I'm a flower that moves. Before bed, I want a walk."

"Okay, out you go." Sans grabbed Flowey by his pot. "Enjoy the windowsill and watch the snow."

"Hang on! In exchange, I'll give you advice on humans you won't _find_ in books," Flowey added quickly. "Come on? They are kind of funny creatures. A walk in Waterfall. And, I'll even give you one advanced tip before we go?"

Sans looked toward the windowsill. Hm. "What tip?"

"Go upstairs, knock on your bedroom door, and tell Frisky that you understand she's shy and that while you're _gone_ , she should feel free to get her PJ's on." Flowey winked. "Cause I guarantee she's already dressed anyhow. Make yourself look good."

"Huh?" He didn't get it.

"Trust me. Human women are beyoooooond shy of their bodies. Probably due to the lack of protection everywhere else. While Frisky does have determination, I think she's done enough in less than 24 hours for you. Agreed?" Flowey asked. "Come on. If you don't start off well, your marriage could really suck."

Sans made a slight groan but did as Flowey said. "You better be right about this." He knocked on the door and said the exact same thing Flowey said to, and climbed back down.

"There. Good. Now, if you weren't so pressed for time, I would say give her a week to get used to that. But, give her 48 hours?" Flowey stressed.

"Why?" Sans still didn't get it. "Shouldn't be ashamed. I don't care. Heck, Alphys wears nothing but a labcoat. She'd take it off any old day." He touched his own coat. "I could take these off any old day too. Whatever."

"Yeah, tip one? She's _not_ a Monster. Humans are shy." Flowey groaned. "You should know that by now."

"But I'm not . . ." Was this flower really right? "But part of the reason you even do that is, you know. Personal _signs_ you'd never hurt each other. I know some Monsters like her tender flesh but I'd never hurt her. I mean, that's what-."

"Yeah, I know what you're _thinking_ ," Flowey said. "It's Monster marriage, she should feel comfortable in certain ways with you after the Soul bearing. This is kind of disrespectful of her, yada, yada. Well, it doesn't work that way perfectly with humans! There are different things to it, Sansy. Human and Monster Marriage are _very different_. The way you approach them is different."

"I . . . I don't get it." Was he really on the up and up? "The longer we take, the more she'll think something's wrong."

"No, she . . . ugh. Fine, before bed, tell her to be prepared for tomorrow night then?" Flowey said. "I still suggest 48 but whatever. At least 24 is something. Now, let's go! I need my walk."

* * *

Sans took a shortcut to Waterfall, half feeling like an idiot. He was taking advice from Flowey. But, the flower did have experience with girl humans. Something that was kind of rare.

"Warm, warm, warm, warm, warm."

Oh yeah, downstairs probably got too cold for it. Well, maybe . . . maybe it could stay with either him or Papyrus at night. If it _really_ proved itself to be good. "Okay. You better have good stuff, and no more than a few minutes. I don't want to leave with just Pap guarding the house too long."

"Fine. Tip one. Open the bathroom up to your wife and son. They are humans. They need groomed, and cleaned, and I doubt she really wants to deal with having to wait to get teleported there all the time. It's their new home. Make it feel like it."

Oh yeah. They did have to do that, and it would be a much less prisoner feeling if they could do that on their own. "I can do that. It's just always been like that."

"Yeah, it was her . . . hiding place. Anyhow. Good. Tip Two. Women like flowers. Monsters and humans, all women."

"Well, I'm holding one right now," he joked.

"Not me, not flowers like me!" Flowey complained. "Pretty flowers. In a bouquet. And I know the kind Frisky likes the most." Flowey gestured around him. "Get some small echo flowers for her, wrap the stems together, and give them to her."

Uhhh? "That sounds weird. They just repeat random stuff."

"Just, trust me. Frisky will love echo flowers. If she doesn't, don't listen to any more of my advice."

Sans shrugged, put Flowey down and grabbed a few small ones. He reached in his pocket and fished out a Grillby wrapper. He tied them together with the Grillby wrapper. "Like that?"

Flowey winced. "You know what? It's you, so fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Flowey sighed. "Last but not least. Frisky is human and as horrid as it is to Monster's ears? Tell her she can sing."

Sans didn't look as ready to try that. "You heard that stuff?"

"Tell her to sing _soft._ Soft songs," Flowey said. "You might be surprised how well you can handle it. But, humans have been denied song creation nearly five hundred years. Humans love it, so put up with it."

" . . . can't I just get her some Monster Music?"

"No, let her sing! Monster Music is all beats."

"Great beats."

"There is no words to it. She needs to sing. Sing! She probably won't even sing in front of you, just let her know she can sing. You don't want her to feel unwelcome, do you? If you want her to really feel like home is home, then you better make her feel _home_. She never could sing anywhere except her cell. Why do you think you find them all over MP's? It's the only way humans get them. Plus, it gives her determination. And, well, let's face it," Flowey snickered. "You're gonna need that, aren't you?"

"Okay, walk over. Anything else?"

"Yeah. When you hand her the flowers, say it's to 'welcome her to her new home'. Now, I guess, off back to the cold. Ugh. I can't believe I have to do this for you, Chara," he muttered.

* * *

 **Back in Snowdin . . .**

"Hey! Hey, Babe!"

Hmm? Frisky got up from the bed and looked out the small window. Oh, not him. How did he know where she was at?

"Come on, Babe! Come on? Talk?" Conner insisted from outside. "At least share some food? I'm starving. You're not a prisoner anymore, right? Please? Help? You can't ignore a call for help, right? Not my sweet girl."

Frisky rolled her eyes, grabbed her tiny emergency astronaut candy and headed downstairs. She didn't need simple food now that she wasn't FRISK anymore. She opened the front door. "Here. Here is some astronaut candy. I can't give you anything else, Conner."

"Nothing else? Body temperature's really low out here." Conner breathed into the air, showing off his breath. "A man could freeze to death out here."

"Well, you should leave Snowdin."

"Or?" Conner winked. "You look pretty warm in those pajamas. You could always help warm me up?"

Pathetic. "Go find shelter. It's not going to be here."

"You can sneak me in the back?"

"No. Get out of here and go find shelter. I mean it. I know you have an MP."

"Aww. But, Frisky?" He breathed in his fingers. "Okay, but I'm not real far away, alright? After all, I heard you married a Monster." He winked at her. "That means you're still going to have to warm up with a man's real flesh to stay satisfied."

Frisky didn't even answer that as she shut and locked the door.

"Damn. One day I am going to get her." He chuckled as he walked backward a bit. He turned around with the astronaut candy and ran straight into a short, funny looking little Skeleton. "Uh? Coat and shorts at the same time? Oh yeah, you're the little puzzle guy."

"Uh, human?" Sans shrugged. "Didn't know if you knew this? But, that's my wife you just said that about? Okey dokey? So. Let's not say that again."

"Oh. Yeah." Conner looked up to the window. "I mean . . . of course, Sir. I'll just be on my way."

"Probably a good idea." Sans closed his eye sockets. "Probably a real good idea. Probably a better idea not to _ever_ come back either."

"If you haven't figured it out yet," Flowey chimed in. "That's your signal to run before he opens his eyes. Moron."

"Nah. No, wait." Conner waved his finger at him. "You're Sans the Skeleton, I remember now. Someone's gotta be like LV 19 to fight. I'm not that at all," he said confidently. "Judge me if you like, I'm just level one. I'm PACIFIST. Never hurt a Monster."

"Pretty sure you should still run," Flowey chimed again.

"Oh yeah. Yeah, I forgot all about that. I don't lift a finger until someone who commits GENOCIDE rolls through." Sans shoved his bony hand in his coat pocket. Feeling his empty bottle of catsup he flung it out.

"Out of catsup? I could go get you some."

"Well, what a great guy you are, huh?" Sans opened his eye sockets and they were completely dark with no sign of light.

"I told you," Flowey said. "Stupid human."

"Uh? Something wrong? Look, I don't want to fight." Conner put his hands up. "Really."

Sans closed his eye sockets again. "Hey, hey. You know what? Sounds great. Except that life for me has kinda changed, pal, and the _last_ thing I need is someone skulking outside my home. And hey, I think my brother agrees. Right, The Great Papyrus?"

"Right!"

Conner turned and saw Papyrus behind him. "Oh. Hey? Hey there. Both Skeleton brothers, huh? So, aren't you the one who tests humans through puzzles too?"

Papyrus stared at him roughly. "Human. Prepare yourself!"

"Yeah, Papyrus isn't really that sweet until after you do the puzzles. And, I'm not a big ball of candy over here either, pal. I mean, I've got to get my new wife pregnant in a short amount of time, she's not even comfortable with me seeing her naked yet, and you're saying you want to take her away. Not a ball of laughs right now."

"Yeah, that?" Flowey said looking up at him. "That's a **_Monster_** way of talking about that! Frisky's not gonna be happy you said all that to him. And don't share it down at Grillby's either. She really wouldn't like that."

"Eww. I mean. Oh," Conner said quickly. "Yeah, uh . . . it's not my fault though, you know? Babe, I mean Frisky?" He chuckled nervously. "Uh, yeah, she is the one who opened your door for me. So, you know, she's partly at fault. I can't help it if I'm good with women, can I?"

"Ooh, you are painfully stuuuupid," Flowey groaned.

"Frisky isn't at fault," Sans said. "She opened _her_ door of _her_ home to someone she thought needed some help. Because, that's Frisky. And you _knew_ that."

Conner held his hands up. "Yeah, that's of course your business. Whatever magic you gotta do to shell out a kid with a human. Um, so which way out of Snowdin? Cause um?"

"This guy has clearly never been in the Underground." Flowey sighed. "And I am not repeating that same phrase again. Ever. So. Look, you idiot human! They never pulled you into an encounter. Just _run_ and don't come back. Seriously, _don't_ come back. This is not a good time to play around with these guys."

"Oh? Oh!" Conner finally ran away.

"What a bonehead, a complete and utter bonehead!" Papyrus complained. "Where did you go, Sans?"

"The pet needed a walk," Sans said. "Don't worry, just a few minutes." He trotted back into the house and set Flowey back on the table. "Just tell her 'welcome to her new home' with them, right? You better hope this works."

"It'll work. Just watch."

All of this seemed really strange. Was the flower leading him to doom or success? He had proved himself helpful before, and even told him the truth about Frisky being in the Underground. _Is this really right? I mean, echo Flowers just repeat stuff they catch. Plus, if she liked them, she already had a_ _n echo_ _wreath with no muttering from_ _Toriel_ _. And if I tell her she can keep hiding her body, then that's just going to make her feel more ashamed of it. And that's a horrible way to start this marriage thing._

He shook his head. Why were humans so ashamed of their body? He wasn't ashamed of himself. He was just bones. Alphys wasn't ashamed. Most Monsters weren't ashamed. Clothes were more of a personality attribute or necessary for the weather. The only reason he even bothered with clothes like his coats and shirts was because he always had them too. Ever since he could remember there were just tons of coats, shorts, and silly white shirts.

And the bathroom. Flowey had paused there for a second when he spoke to him. A hiding place. Why did she need a hiding place back then? Were humans really welcomed, yes or no? He went back to their room and saw her sitting by the bed in her clean, warm pajamas. She was probably getting tired.

"Okay, now it's bedtime. You get dressed?" She seemed fine. Not upset. Not blushing. "Uh. Are you ashamed of your body?" He'd ask her directly. That should help keep him out of trouble. She was clearly trying to work out what he said. Shoot, this was stupid. "You shouldn't be. I'm sure it's fine. I'm all bones myself." He shrugged. "We'll try tomorrow night. I claim the right side. It's easier to wake up when I can just roll out in the mornings."

She looked like she had conflicted emotions. One side seemed embarrassed while the other wanted to laugh. "Uhh . . . hm. Is that important?"

"Yeah," Sans said as he got into the bed. "I'm lazy. It's important I get to roll out of bed easily."

"Not. Um." Frisky sighed. "Well. I guess. Um. Uh. It is marriage."

"Uh?" Sans looked over at her. "Well, I guess I can share the side of the bed?"

"No, it's fine." Frisky laid down on the pillow. "What do you have in your hand?"

"Oh? Oh yeah." Sans looked over in his hand. He forgot about that. He handed them to her. "Here. To welcome you to your new home."

"Echo flowers? To welcome me?"

"Uh huh." Sans could feel himself getting tired fast. He felt like he could sleep at least a week, and he still had his new hours to begin tomorrow. "Don't forget the kiss on my bony cheek and . . ."

" . . . and . . ." he knew he faded off at least a few minutes. In the middle of the sentence. Shoot. He looked over toward Frisky. She was already asleep. But, there was a small humming. He looked over at the echo flowers.

There was slightly different humming in each one. It was so low most Monsters probably wouldn't have noticed it. They were way over, tied up with his Grillby wrapper to her side of the bed.

Except for one. There was one just right between them. He picked it up and listened.

"Thank you, Sans."

Oh. She did like them. Well? _Yeah, well, it is the rules._ Actually the do's and don'ts were more like guidelines, and things like cuddling couldn't exactly be proven or enforced. But. He dragged her hand over a little bit. "Busy day for you too, huh?" No movement. The whole marriage, barely escaping the cold with her life, and thinking her son was dying was probably a lot to take. He brought her body over closer. _Heh. So, she really used to be mine? How?_ Not that it mattered. None of that past stuff mattered anymore. His memory had been reset, and he could never remember, even if he wanted to. Her memory had been wiped clean. There was nothing left that remained except Flowey's knowledge and a single photo.

He pulled her even closer, feeling the whole softness of her body and hair against him. "Night. Faith."

* * *

Outside the barrier . . .

"Yes, I see it. Dead ahead, not hard."

 **"Just go in, and straight to the lab. Don't mess with Sans the Skeleton. Don't mess with his wife or his kid."**

"His stuff? It's _mine_."

 **"Nuh uh, our intel say they got married."**

"Son of a-."

"Yes you are, aren't you?" Chara appeared in front of him. "You are not coming through my barrier. Of all people. You're the worst." She sneered. "Go away."

"Hang on, Sir. I've got a spirit to deal with." 04823 put up his MP back in its holder. "You must be Chara."

"Go. Away," She warned him again. "You're not coming into my Underground."

"This pathetic little shield is going to only last so long, and you can't keep me out. It's not in your programming."

"I can keep out certain Balancers, and I will keep out you."

"Balancer? But look at me?" He gestured toward his simple shirt and pants. "I'm nothing but a frail human."

"Uh uh. I got my own intel too. You're one of the original Balancer creations."

04823's eyes lit up red a second before returning back to their original color. "I'm not going to do anything bad. Just ACT. I'll wiggle. I'll flirt. I can throw sticks and play games. Show sympathy. Undecorate, be a sympathetic ear, and whatever else I have to do. I'm not going to hurt anyone." He winked his eye creepily. "I'm PACIFIST. I just need to go to a lab. That's all."

"Not happening," Chara said firmly. "Give it up." She snapped her fingers in a way she hadn't in thousands of years. "You better recognize. I ain't playing with you."

"Yeah, I see." 04823 pulled out his MP and checked her status. "Bailed out in 2000 something. Explains your weird dialect. Well, I'm 04823."

"You ain't shit, that's what you are." She crossed her arms. "You can't ACT with me. And you're not a number either. According to what I dug up, you want Frisky's determination mixed with you to create something even more powerful than my Itty Bitty. And it's not happening. She is happily _where she should be._ You can't pull out humans anyhow."

"There's always a way around everything. So, Chara. Seems you're fused with the barrier, is that right?" He sneered. "That's it, isn't it? It's using your own determination. Well, that's a lot of it you have. If you were still alive, I could have switched over to you. Unfortunately, I need a little more than just a soul to make my perfect little conduit."

Chara stuck her tongue out at him. "Beat it."

"You can't keep out all the Balancers. The shield isn't built that way. They still think we're just like them," he warned her. "And I will find a way in. I'll find a way. I'll get into that lab and shut you down, and then? I'm going to get my reward. Third times a charm. I've been really making great headway on plans for this third one. It's going to survive, and afterward, mommy's determination is going to be zapped away forever. It's going to be infused straight into it instead."

"Wow. You're such an idiot. If Sans even heard of you near the Underground? Nah, you'd shit bricks if you had to face him when he was angry. No resets. No saves. No continues."

"I'm strong enough without them."

"You only think so."

"Then open up and let's test it out?"

"I would but." Chara held out her hand and 04823 felt the barrier forcing him back. She was reinforcing it. "He's busy getting to reknow Frisky and being a dad to the son you took away from him. Plus, I know that's not a regular MP. I already got that data too."

"Well, aren't you smart."

"Damn Balancer. You better not try and replenish his memories while he's fighting you. That's cheating. Besides, they should both get a fresh start."

"Got a little weak spot for such a lazy guy, don't you?"

"Well?" Chara pursed her lips. "When you have several nice runs and the guy treats you to burgers and fries, and then you have to face him when he's had everything he loved taken away? Yeah, you kind of think he should get his happy ever after. And Frisky too. And Asriel. And of course, my Itty Bitty. No one's using him for evil anymore."

"Ah, so that's how much determination you have? That's how long you are staying?" 04823 figured it out. "When you don't have the determination to correct anything else, you won't have enough to keep us out anymore. Determination alone can't keep us out you know."

"When I don't have determination to correct anything else? It won't matter. Monsters won't always need this barrier. They'll integrate. They'll get out when they find the _right_ kind of Balancers that _**even them out**_." Chara chuckled. "Wow. I haven't made a pun in years. My mom would have been proud of me."

"Good. 'Cause it doesn't matter when this thing comes down. 95452's determination is mine."

"Nah, it won't be. And also? It's not happening anytime soon. Seriously. Go away."

"I'll find a way in. There's always a way in."

"Step off!" Chara shouted. "This here's MY Underground now!"

"Fine. But I'll find a way in. One of these days. I will."


	39. Hots For The Legendary Fart Master

**Close to Sans' many posts . . .**

"Everyone is eyeing me strangely," Frisky said, noticing everyone still watching her. How long would that keep up?

"Human catching humans. It's kind of interesting," Sans said as he walked through the snow. "Tell me if you start freezing to death."

"Um. I'm sure you'll catch some signs," Frisky said watching Chance over in the other corner. "Hey, not too far."

"Sorry!" Chance came running over, his nose and cheeks beating red, but he didn't care. "I was playing with MK. Can we play with the others later too? I want MK to play with the other kids too."

"That's a good idea," Sans said, remembering what happened last night to one of Alphy's conduits. If Chance did have an ability to keep the conduits safe, then he needed to stay beside them. "You need to stay on top of being friends with your other friends. Nearby and far away."

"Maybe a halfway point?" Frisky suggested. "Undyne's house is about halfway."

Sans didn't thoroughly jump on that comment. Frisky felt bad about how early in the timeline things happened, pulling Undyne and Alphys away. Never getting a letter. Never going on the funky fake date. Alphys having conduits. It looked like she was still trying to pull them together. _Just can't let it go, can you? Oh, human. How? How in the world did_ _anything ever happe_ _n?_ He walked around with his slippers in the snow. After that reveal last night, Papyrus suggested he spend time with both of them at the same time today. As a whole family.

So far, it wasn't that bad. Even though he had an extremely busy day yesterday, he got a lot of rest last night. A whole eight hours of sleep. He got three times less breaks now, but Frisky's instant alertness also helped. Not that he would ever trust himself to fall into a deep sleep during work again.

He couldn't. If they got nabbed again. If anyone took Chance, he'd be used as a weapon and his mind probably destroyed. If anyone nabbed Frisky again, her determination would be taken away or worse. _No way, never. They are staying right here. Right. Here._ He looked up toward the sky. Too bad they couldn't see it. Chance would soon again, but Frisky never would. Still, she didn't seem too upset about it.

Probably not at first. Not the first week. Maybe not even the first month. By six months. By a year. By five. Ten. Twenty. It got worse not easier with time. Then again, she had another kind of freedom being down there. She was free to be herself and with . . . _me. Not that she'd want to be with me. This is all just an accident._ He wiggled his foot. _Get it together. So what if you and her somehow actually got together and had Chance? I mean, it was. It's gone. Doesn't exist_ _. Seriously. Geez. Can't I just be happy she's not afraid I'm going to kill her anymore?_

"Are you okay?" Frisky questioned him. "You don't look very good, Sans."

"Huh? Oh. Super fine. Always great." Yeah, she didn't buy it. "Undyne's not real good with human kids, I don't think what you want's going to work."

"It doesn't hurt to ask," Frisky insisted.

"It might. It's just not . . . it's all from a different timeline. That letter stuff. Pretty pointless to try to replicate."

"I'm not replicating it," Frisky said. "I just need to help them a little. A tiny nudge in the right direction. Love will take it from there."

"Why can't you just give up on this thing?"

"Sans. You're getting as bad as Flowey." She sighed. "Because it's not the events that defined what happened, it was their own feelings. If I sent the letter and went on a fake date but they didn't really like each other, them admitting their feelings would never have happened in the first place."

Okay. Smart. He just walked away again. _But she's human. A human I'm married to. I'm stuck with her anyway. But, humans are so strange._ _Flowey_ _was proving just how strange she was last night._ Sans stopped and waved to his friend. "Hi there, pal."

"Hi there, Sans," he said. "Enjoying married life?"

"So-so," Sans admitted. "She won't even let me see her naked yet."

"Really? That is strange."

Hm? Sans looked over at Frisky who was just staring him down. "Sup?"

"Oh, it's okay human!" Sans friend went by with a friendly wave. "Nothing to be ashamed of. See ya, Sans. And be good to your wife. She looks pretty edgy."

"Uh huh, thanks, Buddy." Hmm. What was it that Flowey said he shouldn't have done? He was listening last night. Well, half listening. He had been tired. He remembered the flowers. And he remembered . . . "So, I saw that guy Conner last night."

"He's a schmuck," Chance said.

"Chance," Frisky scolded him. "Yeah, he was wanting something. I gave him one of my old astronaut food bars."

Her voice still sounded pretty tense. Hmm. Her face was looking away still. What else could it be? "You know, Papyrus and I aren't real happy about your FRISK friends. But, we kind of agreed that Friskarino can come see you. I mean, if you want. I mean, you should be able to see any of them." Oh no, he'd already done it. Made it seem like she didn't get a choice. "We'd really only like to see him around you around the place, if that's okay with you?"

Well. That seemed to have made her better. "Thanks. Yeah, no worries. I know how you feel. I don't think the other Frisks will come anytime soon, but, if I get a chance, I'll tell Friskarino that."

Great. There we go, that was better. Sans kept his eyes peeled again. This job used to be a lot simpler because no one ever came. Now? Balancers crossed. Monsters crossed. And they all crossed anywhere. Snowdin residents. Residents from outside. It did make it easier to stay awake though. Papyrus, and even the Royal Guards were all actively watching for anyone who showed the wrong tendencies while crossing.

"Hey, Sans! How's It going?"

"Kind of tough. Humans are extra shy of their bodies. I'm working with it. Out for any tips though."

"Huh. That's weird. I'll keep all my ears open for tips for you."

 _What in the world did I just get myself into?_ Frisky watched that whole exchange. Monster Marriage Culture. It was something she was inexperienced with. She'd been married less than a day but she was sure this was going to be different already. _I need to learn this. Quick. I am going to mess up on how to ACT if I don't figure this out._

"Hey there, Frisky? How's married life treatin' ya?" Chara appeared not too far away. "Hey, Sans! I need to yack at your wife for a bit! Mind?"

Sans shrugged. "She's not a prisoner. Just, don't go too far. And, no lasers."

"Aw, he takes all the fun out of it." Chara started to walk along with Frisky. "So, how was the honeymoon?"

"That's not a very funny comment," Frisky said to her. "I don't think I am properly prepared for the ACT for this."

"Nah, you're not," Chara agreed and then chuckled. "You really, really aren't."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, your day has just started and you saw what just happened twice to Sans?" Chara said. "Monster Culture. It's not at all like Balancers or humans. There are some really good things and bad things. One really nice thing is that Monsters? They may be vicious and fight and everything. You know? Battle to the death! Rargh!" She bared her teeth and stomped around for a second. "But? I mean, come on." Chara chuckled again. "Remember the Nose Nuzzle championships? The cute lovey Dogamy and Dogaressa? Yeah, they don't have that in your world, and there's a reason. Human guys were always so-so with romance. Balancers are awful, just getting worse with it. Monsters though would put their very life on the line for their family, or to correct the wrong doing of another's."

"Yeah, I read about that on the do's and don't's," Frisky agreed. "Cuddling. Sleeping with their young three nights a week."

"Yeah, until they are 8 or so I think. They are really sweet as a whole. But, uh, there are some huge differences too. Like that back there?" She gestured toward Sans. "Sans is telling Monsters he meets about you not letting him see you naked."

"Yeah. Hard to miss that one."

"Ah, ah. I hear your tone. You're in Monster marriage not human marriage. You're already choosing the wrong way to ACT. Ya see how many Monsters roam around naked? Or, they have just a few clothes on? Different culture. Expect different things, Frisky."

"Okay. Yeah," Frisky confessed. "I didn't need this for my missions, but, I wish I had studied it more now. Sans was ready to actually see me last night. Me, me."

"Yeah, and that's far from over. Aw, Frisky!" Chara just smiled at her big and wide. "You've got a lot of hard ACT to do so hold onto your determination. Because Sans' Monster instinct makes him _want_ to actively tell everyone he meets who asks, his closest friends, or the more he's really falling in love with you, how you're little agenda is going." She winked.

"What?"

"What you look like, what he likes about you, how much you've cuddled, how far you're coming along. Because if he doesn't say anything at all, then it makes him? Look like he's mean. Like he doesn't like you. Like he's a rude guy. Like he must not be able to stand the way you look. Like he doesn't like the way you talk, the way you walk. The cuddles, the hugs. You name it. Everything." She laughed one more time. "Everything, everything, everything. Not to mention, it's Sans. A fairly popular guy of Snowdin. So, he's got a lot more chatting up about you."

"Ooh." Really? "You aren't making this up?"

"You. Wish. It's like human locker conversation," Chara winked, "Except there is nothing said really behind your back. And, as a Monster woman, it's _supposed_ to be a sweet thing, knowing your hubby notices and is concerned about you."

Oh no. "Big difference between we cuddly nightly and . . . and everything."

"Not to them. You naked is top on everyone's list too because you're human. You're a _unique_ one. Even Sans is clearly curious about you, don't you think?" Chara chuckled. "Hub-hub can't wait to see you in your glory."

"Chara." Frisky touched the top of her head. "Is there any way to make this go away?"

"You so totally wish. I mean, he'll keep it a little on the down low right now," Chara admitted. "Because, well, you're only married because of Chance."

"Exactly. So."

"So the regular rules shouldn't apply, huh? He shouldn't be as sweet of a husband to you?"

"It's not sweet."

"Is to Monsters."

Frisky was almost starting to glare. "I. I don't like this custom."

"Well, put yourself in their shoes. Hey, let's go with Alphys and Undyne since you're so bent on getting them together?" Chara suggested. "They get together. Now, all Monsters have different kinds of bodies. Sans is obviously nothing but bones. Alphys is like a Dino nerd body. Undyne is a fishy scaly human-like body. All kinds, so especially when a fish body gets with a nerd body?"

" . . . what?"

"As a Monster, you want to make your partner feel comfortable about the differences between you. So Alphys would go around and tell others about how beautiful and graceful and charming Undyne looks without her armor underneath, and vice versa. Undyne would talk about what a beautiful bare form Alphys had. As partners, it would make them feel more secure."

"What if they are already naked?"

"Those Monsters are considered supremely comfortable, and their partner focuses more on, you know. The kisses, hugs, cuddling, how antennas feel on their scaly skin or whatever. Why, are you going to shed all your clothing?" Chara clapped and bit her lip. "That would be rich." She clapped her hands twice quicker. "But, don't worry, 'cause there is something that will probably get you out of this all."

"Really?" Frisky asked. "What?"

"Really want to know? Really, really want to know?"

Chara was too dang happy. Frisky could tell. "What?"

"Well, while there is the interest to make a partner feel comfortable there is the selfish partnership too. It's a little closer to the human way. Once a Monster sees underneath their partner, if they like what they see? I mean not 'I'm comfortable with how your form looks', it's more like 'holy crap, that is _hot_ , and this is for me ever only,' then that free speech gets buttoned up pretty tight." Chara started to skip while she walked. "In fact, when someone asks, they'll start growling, snarling, or something to get the hint their partner is _not_ going to be discussed in that way."

"Well." Frisky wouldn't mind the second at least. Less trouble. "Can that be an ACT?"

"Oh no, Silly! You don't have to do it for Sans. I mean, you could, but I think you fall into that 'so unique we don't know what to expect' range. Besides, Sans is quite comfortable with himself. He'd let go of his clothes any old day. In a distant past, he used to wear even less and he didn't care either."

"Oh. So, even though this marriage isn't exactly because of love?"

"The body isn't normally hypersexualized. But, it won't stay that way," Chara teased. "When he sees you, he's going to want to button you up even tighter, for his eyes only kind of thing. Yep, once you have your little exposure, he'll want you all for himself. Naked. Being warmed up with his own magic in bed on them cold nights instead of your little PJ's."

"Chara!"

"Oh, please, I'm thousands of years old. Point is, humans hypersexualize everything. Monsters don't. Unless their partner has a rocking hot body. Holy crap, he's going to totally spaz out when he sees you."

"You're not exactly making things easier." But, not hypersexualized. "Even without that kind of close love, he still expects to see me. Because it's not sexual."

"Not yet." Chara teased again.

Okay. Well? "I guess it's just something I'll have to have the determination to see myself through." Lots of it. "At least it can't get any worse." Chara started laughing again. "What?"

"A little babybones in three months? Hello, Frisky!" She continued to laugh.

"Yes?" Frisky didn't get it.

"Human and Monster are different. What is fun for one, may not _just be fun_ for the other?" Chara teased. "Well, that's it for me today. I'm watching my barrier a little more closer. I am getting better at sensing the better Balancers from the others. I'm not perfect, but I think I'm getting better. But, uh, one more thing? You don't have to get real detailed physically for Sans or anything. But you should do something."

"What?"

"You do want to turn on the sweet ACT stuff. Talk about the hugs, kisses, cuddles, anything nice he does for you to the women Monsters who get curious. How your heart beats when he's around. Because I guarantee with Sans? You know, uhh . . . the way he's kind of . . . not exactly . . ." She waved her hand back and forth. "Uh, you know. He's the Legendary Fart Master. You are _married_ to The Legendary Fart Master, not Romeo. Get my drift?"

Frisky rubbed her fingers against each other. "I feel so unprepared. I am not used to any of this. I need books and manuals. Training in this area."

"Too bad because it's not a mission. No more missions, Frisky. Welcome to the rest of your life. Yep. You climbed through freezing snow and risked everything for this. But really, it isn't so bad."

"Hm. I haven't lost my mind yet, Chance is safe, and we are okay."

"Yeah, plus you were really crushing on The Legendary Fart Master too. So it works out."

"Crushing?" Frisky shook her head. "Sans isn't going to kill me. I have made a decent friendship with Sans. I'm married to him now, but, I . . ."

"Pfffttt. Listen, Frisky. The faster you two realize your feelings, the better this whole thing is going to go. Accept it and move on."

"Chara. I haven't even met him anywhere except Judgment Hall that he remembers. Even if he did remember, I didn't do anything really different. Just, I haven't-"

"Stockholm Syndrome anyone?"

"Stop. This is just. Well, he's not. He's a . . . well, I mean." Frisky couldn't help it as her cheeks grew warmer.

"You're already married. You've got a kid with him. You're stuck with him for centuries, so you might as well accept it," Chara teased her. "You've got the hots for The Legendary Fart Master."

Frisky refused to answer.

"Don't worry though. The Legendary Fart Master likes you too," Chara winked.

"You know you are a little odd at times, don't you, Chara?"

"Don't look at me. You're the one with the strange taste," Chara just laughed as she disappeared.

Chara. She really was an odd one. _Sans isn't killing me. We're friends. And, I suppose I have to learn this new ACT. It is going to take a lot of determination. From pure embarrassment. But, hopefully this is as bad as it gets? Right? Of course. He'll see me. We'll cuddle. That's marriage. Then when the three month time is up then I just get impregnated with whatever technology they have here. Nothing real new._

She just had to keep up her determination up through this part. A lot.

Cause. Sans. Naked in front of Sans. Naked. That was . . .


	40. Ladies Time With Alphys and Undyne

Frisky walked back over toward Sans. "So, how's it going?"

"Another friend noticed your little visitor last night," Sans said. "That really annoying little human after you. Even though. He really _shouldn't_ be."

"Hm?" Oh. Conner. He said he'd met him last night. Were other Monsters trying to tell him to be careful of him or something? Since Monsters were so nosy, maybe. Well, there was an ACT she knew how to handle. "I corrected Chance to be polite, but he's right. Conner's a schmuck. Don't worry about him."

"Great. So I can kill him?" Sans said. "I mean, uh, correct him?"

"Well." Frisky bit her lip slightly. "Human guys instinctively are persistent. Even without interest, so. Correcting him never does much good. You just try to ACT with little interest and hope they get the hint."

"Gotcha. So?" Sans stopped his conversation though. "Whoah, whoah, hey My Kid, nuh uh!" Sans took off as Chance climbed onto the sentry station with MK. "Down."

Frisky almost took off too, but stopped herself. She couldn't keep complete control anymore. Chance wasn't simply just her boy anymore. Sans was his dad. Chance had active magic too. And, he'd even be changing soon. Something that she wasn't going to be able to help with. _No. Sans needs some say so too._ _I have to get used to that._

* * *

"How come I can't be up here?" Chance asked from on top of the sentry station. "I've climbed mountains in a single day."

"Not anymore. Those days are over. Down." Sans pulled him down with his magic beside him. "Nuh uh. If you can't reach somewhere without magic, then you can't use magic to get there."

"But you just did."

"That's different."

"Cause why?"

"Cause I've had years to master it. You've had a couple of days."

"So like, after a month, can I?"

"No."

"Cause why?"

"Yeah, cause why?" MK asked still at the top.

"You?" Sans looked toward MK. "Not helping."

"Yeah, but my parents don't care," MK added.

 _What a little-_ "Sounds great, Kid, that's fine. I'll just drop by your house to make sure of that."

"Huh?! No, don't do that!" MK hopped down.

Sans held Chance's hand while he shoved his other in his coat. "Listen, Monster Kid. My Kid is human, and even though he's got a lot of magic, he doesn't use it properly yet. No more exploring like that. Ok?"

"Sure, Sans."

"No, no, no. You aren't quite _getting_ it there." Sans knocked all the light out of his eye sockets. "No more **_exploring._** You got me?"

"Oh! Yes, Sir!" MK insisted. "No more climbing or digging or anything for him! Sorry, Sir!"

"Aww." Chance watched MK run off. "You scared him, Sans."

"You scared me," Sans said back. "I'm short, My Kid, but you're not even half my size. You're a frail human and you're climbing a sentry station? Nuh uh!"

Chance sighed but followed him back. Frisky was waiting right there, definitely not more pleased than Sans. "Umm. Am I in trouble?" She didn't respond. "What are you going to do, mom?"

Frisky sighed but gestured to Sans. "I'm not a magic pro. What do you suggest?"

"That's easy." Sans left for a second and came back with the old ball and chain. "Come here, Chance."

"No! No, no, no," Chance complained as Sans linked him back up. "But why?"

"You want to work on your magic? Great, you'll get a second ** _chance._** Work on it with that. It'll get stronger. And, if you get strong enough to bust it? Then good job, My Kid. Punishment's over." Sans went back over on patrol as he started to hear Chance complain.

"But no way! This is, no! This isn't fair, I'm not a prisoner anymore. Momma?"

"What?"

"Talk to Sans, please? Come on, Momma?"

"No."

"But momma!"

"Do as your father tells you."

Whoah. Sans didn't expect her to say something like that. _Your father. She really called me_ _. . ._ _his father_ _?_ _She didn't say do what Sans told you, she said father. Um. Is . . . does she really think I'll make a good dad?_ _Or, am I already making a good dad?_

He looked back toward Frisky again. Behind her was Chance, really showing how powerful he'd gotten. The ball was already five feet in the air and he was trying to maneuver it off. Well. He was a Frisk after all. A Frisk with some hefty power. But, after a few minutes, it stopped.

"Come on you blasted thing!" Chance had already used up most of his magic and was now just pulling at it off the ground.

 _That's_ what Sans had been afraid of. Chance didn't know how to control that power, and now he'd have to wait awhile for it to return. He just looked back outward, greeted some new Monsters going by again, hearing how great it was on the other side of Snowdin. It had been about fifteen minutes later when Frisky spoke up again.

"Sans?"

"Hm?"

"I don't think the punishment is working anymore."

Sans looked back and saw Chance. He had the ball in the air, several feet above his head. His foot was still in the chain, but he had the chain stretched out. And he could see what she meant. "Uh. I don't know whether to be mad or impressed."

Chance had turned the ball and shackle into a swing. He was swinging back and forth with it like it was a toy.

"He does that. Makes the best of a bad situation," Frisky admitted. "We were all trained to look for different solutions."

"Mph. He can try this." Sans casted his magic on the ball, making it a little heavier.

"Oh, come on." Chance complained but got back on the ground with the ball. He started to heave at it again. "Bummer." He sighed and started to work on the ground with it.

Good. Now that it was safely on the ground, he casted more magic on it, making it _real_ heavy. Chance needed to concentrate on breaking the chain, not the ball, so he made it impossible to lift.

Dang. Chance kept him on his bony toes just as much as FRISK did. In fact, he had even been wearing the copy of the old shirt FRISK used to wear all the time he'd found from the Ruins. Blue with purple stripes.

Then, Sans cell rang. Papyrus.

"Sans! I have a wonderful surprise for everyone."

"Oh yeah?" Sans asked. "What?"

"Well, I know you said not to go over the barrier and expect good things, but there were several good things! Well, depending on where you go. Over on the other side of the mountain things get very dark and murdery. But, just on the other side of Snowdin is a town called Snowdout. It's apparently a greeting town that has been set up for many, many years to welcome Monsters when the barrier was supposed to have been taken off!"

"Oh yeah, two factions." Frisky mentioned that. The ones that wanted the Monsters freed. They had even been that prepared? No wonder she fell for the con of the mission. Everyone did. "Sounds great."

"Better than great, Brother! They even have each of us Monsters preset up with some kind of card that holds kind of like GOLD. It's like carrying a personal board shop, except in a card. To be more welcoming, they even have a generous limit on the card, so that Monsters would be more ready to deal with the outside world! With it, I have bought various types of meat for Frisky to train with! I also bought us some dinner from one of their burger shops. They smell very good."

New burgers? New meat? "It's a good place?"

"Yes. The, um, Balancers here are closer to Monsters. They aren't foul or overly ill-tempered. I admit, it's a little different still. But, Snowdout is absolutely huge, Sans! There is over 20,000 who live there! And, I have heard from Monsters going deeper that there is something called a city after that, that houses over 500,000! Isn't that amazing?"

"That's great, Papyrus." It was super great. Not every Balancer was evil, just like not every human, just like not every Monster. "Um, what's over on the other side of the mountain though?"

"Oh. Well. Um. From what I've heard? Well?" Papyrus sighed over the phone. "Snowdout has no humans allowed, Sans. But, the other side does. They live in these places with barriers around them that humans can move to and fro from, but they have to cross some of the most deadly Balancer areas to go to each one. And, apparently? They live in one but work in another. _Across_ Balancers. It's, it kind of sounds sickening, Sans. It's like they were _physically_ placed in a situation where they have to risk their lives each day just to go to work! And-and-those were the civilization districts. That's where Frisky considered _freedom_ lied. In, in those places. Sans."

"Yeah, I see."

"Obviously. Um. Monsters aren't going to have much trouble at all. No one will toss us away or try to throw us into a fake mountain illusion. This time? Humans suffer. Severely. Outside of their barriers, there are no rights at all. And, and . . . just? I think it's a very _good_ thing that my new sister cannot leave the barrier. Because, there is a . . . there is a, um, a lot less say so for relationships too."

After meeting that Balancer with Frisky in Grillby's? Sans didn't doubt that. "Got it, Papyrus. Thanks."

"Oh yes, another thing. Um. Undyne cut your hours back a little more and raised your salary even higher instead. I think she feels really bad for you too. Um , she also said that King Asgore is willing to give you three months again, but he will consider more if Frisky talks to him directly. He will also consider, you know. Different forms of . . . justice. If you talk to him and explain what is going on. He still doesn't quite understand it."

"No and no." He wasn't doing that. He wasn't putting her through that. As for justice? _He'd_ deal with it himself if the time ever came.

"Okay. He did say that he is placing extra protection around the family either way. The Royal Guards have been moved to guard new areas to keep an extra close eye on the family, and even near the house. They won't make contact or anything unless the need calls for it."

"Well, you don't see that everyday. Lunch on a ball."

Sans stopped talking on the phone as he saw a Balancer approach Chance and Frisky. "Nuh uh, Pal. Move it along."

"What? Is this a dry district?" It asked as he looked extra close at Frisky. "Eating or selling?"

"Neither one here. Beat it." He approached closer. "That's _my_ wife and kid, so hit the snow already."

"Your shoes are absolutely lovely," Frisky said from out of the blue. "Red or maroon?"

"Huh?" The Balancer stared at his shoes. "Hmm. Uhh. Hmm."

"Red or maroon?" Frisky questioned again. "Which do you think? Red or maroon?"

"Uh." He lifted one of his shoes and concentrated on it. "I don't know."

"Then you should probably head on your way then. Please come back when you know whether they are red or maroon," Frisky finished. "Then we can talk about other subtle colors like blue and turquoise."

"Oh. Okay." The Balancer just started to walk away.

"Shoes and colors?" Sans asked. "Did you just outwit it with shoes and colors?"

"Colors. He's a type of Balancer that has trouble concentrating with similar color questions presented to them," Frisky explained. "Some Balancers require an ACT, while others have none. Most Balancers from Snowdout require easy ACTs. I assume you've heard of it already?"

"Yeah. So, Snowdout is a good place?"

"For Monsters? Yes, it's a good place. It was set up as a gateway community many years ago."

"Hey, Sansy-Boy!"

"Hey!" Sans waved back. "So did you get Snowdout but then missed being Snowdin?"

"Yep, nothing beats home."

"Yep, there's **_snow_** place like home. Sounds like Snowdout is an **_ice_** place to **_chill_** though."

"Yeah, you should check it out later. Say hi to the fam for me!"

" ** _Snowdout_** I will."

Chance waved back but Frisky just had her usual cracked smile on her face. Which was fine. At first, Sans noticed she never really laughed. He thought she was a hard nut to crack. But, there was always a strange smile on her face, no matter the situation he used a pun in.

It was less about the laughter, more something else.

His cell rang again. Papyrus. "Hey, Papyrus, sorry about that. Got distracted."

"Doing your job is not a distraction," Papyrus insisted. "I just had one more thing though. Undyne said she'd heard about your trouble with Frisky."

"The naked thing?" He asked. He straightened up. "Can she help?"

"Well, she said she saw her naked the first time she almost killed her. So, she could probably help. She said Alphys would be there too. Her conduits are playing in the ruins today."

"Great. Now?"

"As soon as I let her know."

"Yes." Frisky was trying to get those two together anyway. It would be easy to get her to go over there. "Undyne can just come over and pick up Frisky. I'll watch Chance." Maybe that would help her. Being ashamed of the body wasn't something that was good for a Monster. "Oh, and hey? If they notice anything that might help, tell them I appreciate that too."

* * *

 **Undyne's** **Home . . .**

Frisky's eyes darted between Alphys and Undyne. Sans said Undyne and Alphys wanted to talk. They were both hovering over her near the table. "Um?"

"So, first day of fully being married," Undyne started. "Doing really good with Sans, right?"

"Sure." Something felt off. Very off.

"Well, um, not that we want to judge?" Alphys asked. "But, we couldn't help but hear that you aren't letting Sans see you naked."

What? _Chara_ _was absolutely right._

"Now, human! There is nothing to be ashamed of," Undyne started. "Sure your flesh feels a little _weird_. I prefer scaly myself, or maybe more rough, but that shouldn't make you feel bad."

"Um. We decided that to make you feel better, we would take off our clothes for you," Alphys told her with a smile. "Because, you _shouldn't_ feel bad about it. You might feel a little uneasy when Monsters compliment you, but you should never feel bad."

Even Alphys?

"First of all, I've already seen you naked from the first time I almost killed you," Undyne said through a toothy smile. "So I know that you are weird, but I've seen much weirder. But, you need to be comfortable with your own skin! If not around everywhere, then at least with your partner."

"Uh huh," Alphys agreed. "So? Do you want to tell us why you don't feel comfortable? Are you _still_ terrified of Sans?"

"Terrified?" Is that also why it was such a concern? Did he still think she was terrified of him? "No. It's just, in my world, bodies are more . . . we keep them very covered."

"For protection, but, you are married now," Undyne said again. "No matter how vulnerable you feel, you shouldn't feel that way in front of your partner. They already know all of your deepest and darkest secrets from the Soul bearing. Didn't that make it easier for you?"

Okay, that didn't work. "It's not embarrassment. It's, uh . . ." What did Chara say about it? "It's hypersexualized."

"Oh? Oh!" Alphys and Undyne looked at each other.

"Well, really?" Undyne scratched her head and looked back at Alphys. "Huh. Oh."

"Oh. Well, that explains a lot," Alphys admitted. "Okay. Well? In the Underground, it doesn't really work like that." She blushed a little. "Marriage is about love, and about being sweet on that someone special and having a wonderful family. We don't always fit perfectly. I mean, I know what you mean? The um, the sexy, the um, bodies you really, _really_ like? And things?"

"You mean like the way I like really nice, rough but slimier scales on . . ." Undyne chuckled. "Yeah, um, that's just a body liking thing. Marriage rarely follows that. Unless there are lots of your kind anyhow. I mean, sexy is sexy, but marriage is love."

"Love and protection. Being with that someone special forever, for the rest of all your centuries," Alphys said as she folded her hands lovingly.

"I mean, you could be sexually attracted and married. Happens all the time. Especially with Monsters with lots of their kind. Like Froggits," Undyne said off-handedly. "Totally possible. But, if you keep thinking like that?" Undyne cringed. "You do _know_ that Sans is nothing but bones?"

"Yes, and, you really don't want to make him feel bad," Alphys said. "Sans is going to take care of you for the rest of all of your centuries."

Centuries? "Humans have a limited life span. We are lucky to live a century."

"Yes, but you had Chance," Alphys said. "Chance, remember?"

Still. Not getting it. "So?"

"Well, I know you don't remember the motion shift, but . . ." Alphys stumbled. "Well, your souls are all connected. They are so connected, they can even help heal each other. The only one who can destroy that connection is Chance. When he dies."

"Yeah. It's another reason when Monsters get married they typically have kids pretty fast. To build a connection," Undyne said. "It's just standard to do. Like, if a Froggit married a Whimsun. A Froggit lives a century, but a Whimsun lives about a century and a half to two. So-"

"When they have their cute little Froggit or Whimsun, then the Froggit would take the lifespan of the Whimsun. It's a Monster survival thing," Alphys explained. "Powerful magic, but our numbers have always been so much weaker. The souls are connected through the child. As long as Chance lives, you'll all be a sweet loving family."

"Yeah, but when a kid dies, that connection is lost." Undyne sighed. "Just look at King Asgore and his ex."

"Oh, but their love didn't die!" Alphys insisted. "And, they were both Monster goats, so there wasn't any life loss but . . . but I guess you're getting it?"

"I'm . . ." Were they saying? "I'm a human with the lifespan of a Skeleton?"

"Yes," they both agreed.

"But, having all of that rest on one little Monster when the world is pretty brutal?" Alphys added. "It means couples tend to have more every few years. Just in case. Because-"

"The world is cruel. Monsters die all the time. At least, they used to. Should have. Whatever," Undyne shrugged off. "Before we got shoved down a mountain too. Seriously. Monsters didn't all get along better before King Asgore created the boards."

"But you don't have to worry about that!" Alphys said happily. "Sans is very, _very_ strong. I'm sure you won't lose them. And, as long as you have two alive, King Asgore won't demand any more. Any others will be up to you."

"I'm . . ." Living as long as Sans? As long?

"Marriage is forever. So, let's help you get over this hump you're on!" Alphys insisted. "Because, because not just _anyone_ would do what you did. For someone." Alphys started to sniffle. "Really, not many at all would do all that just for a dad to be with his son! Sorry, I'm sorry." Alphys rubbed her eyes. Undyne offered her a tissue and she rubbed her eye. "Okay, okay. I'm better," she sniffled. "I promise. Um. But, you know? That hypersexualized is starting to make so much more sense. That is why the humans tended to kiss before they ever showed each other themselves in um, some of my anime."

"Alright, now that we are all on the same page?" Undyne said looking between them each. "Nobody cares about your body down here, Frisky. In fact, flesh feels a bit weird, to be honest. But. It's okay. You are who you are, and you need to feel comfortable about that."

"Um? Well?" Alphys seemed to ponder for a moment. "Technically, opposites attract super hard. But, um, what am I saying?" She seemed to laugh it off. "You'll be completely fine."

"Yeah, but you need to get it in your head. Quick." Undyne pointed to her head. "Marriage isn't about sexy. I mean, it could be. It's about love. I mean, do you humans _really_ just go with attraction to the body?"

"But, see? In my anime, it's usually like the really cute girl or boy with the glasses that ends up with another really cute girl or cute boy that they thought would be attracted to the big muscley humans?" Alphys questioned. "That's kind of like it? Sort of? Maybe?"

"Well, it's not all about that," Frisky said. "Trust me. There's a lot more than bodies to consider."

"Good 'cause in this case, there is no body. Seriously, _just_ a Skeleton. Getting it yet?" Undyne said. "Sans will take care of you the rest of your life. And, I bet he might possibly even start to really like you. Especially with that kiss," she muttered beneath her breath. "But, he's never going to be your version of sexy. He's just bones. He's just a bonehead. He's an idiot who tells puns and likes playing with whoopie cushions. Seriously, even asking for romance is going to be a bit hard."

"Well, um? Well, um." Alphys couldn't really add to it. "Did I mention he's really very strong and will protect you for life? Small price to pay for it all, right?"

Frisky didn't mind they were judging humans. She liked the fact that they were sharing so much with her. All of it was helpful, except the last part. "Um. I don't mean to be rude. I don't, but please don't talk like that."

"What do you mean?" Alphys asked.

Frisky closed her eyes. "I suppose you two have figured out that my world is not very kind. If you ACT wrong, you are dead. Humans are rodents, and our children . . . it's not easy. I try to help the situation sometimes when things get tough. I ACT in a certain way that I think might make the situation easier but." She shook her head. "There is no real humor left in my world. It's so rare in the ugliness. But, someone like Sans? Whenever he tells a joke or does anything remotely funny? I mean, I don't laugh. There's just this warm, ticklish feeling in my belly. And I love it." She seemed to back off. "That's why I just couldn't bear to go through meeting again. Not after GENOCIDE. Because I took away everything he was."

"Oh." Undyne and Alphys both shared a look. A really strange look like they just put a huge piece in a missing puzzle hole.

"That's . . . oh! You know, I never thought of it like that," Alphys admitted. "You probably don't have a whole lot of jokes in a world where you were just . . . just a number. Sorry. I get it."

"It's okay. It's life," Frisky insisted.

"So he never has to be real awful sweet? Or save your life, or get flowers or chocolate or do anything in particular? An extra special event of some kind?" Alphs looked toward Undyne again. "Just be his strange self. It was just _him_ the entire time."

"Yeah. Incredible. Weird, but, okay."

Why were they talking like that now? "What's incredible?" Frisky asked. "Is this about how to be a good husband or something?"

"Sure. Well, hey! If you like that about Sans, then this should be even easier!" Undyne said. She seemed extra jittery, almost excited. "Let's move to step two. The absolutely beautiful Alphys is up."

Alphys removed her lab coat. Her yellow body was underneath it.

"See? Beautiful Alphys," Undyne said proudly. "Turn around. Show off that tail."

"Oh, Undyne." Alphys couldn't quit blushing but she turned around. "Um, I'm comfortable with myself. Sort of. I feel more protected in my lab coat."

"But it's not even needed. You're perfect the way you are," Undyne insisted.

Alphys touched her cheeks. "Oh. Thank you. You're sweet."

"You're sweeter, Alphys. None sweeter than you." Undyne started to take off her armour. "See? Nothing to it. I have to be careful when I do this though because enemies can take out my tender scaly skin. But, there's no enemies here." She took off her armour and her scaly body was displayed.

"See? She is so pretty," Alphys insisted. "Undyne must have one of the most bravest but most beautiful forms in all the Underground."

"Aw, thanks Alphys," Undyne said. "Okay, Frisky. Your turn."

Frisky looked toward the windows. Completely open. "Is there a room without windows?"

Alphys and Undyne both groaned.

"Okay. Hypersexualized, not a thing down here," Undyne said again.

"Yes, it is," Frisky insisted. "Humans are trapped down here. I don't want _them_ seeing me."

"Oh, I get it," Undyne said. "Alphys, let's stand in front of the windows for her. You take the left. I'll take the right."

Alphys and Undyne completely blocked the window. Well. _It's just us girls. Maybe, if I see their reaction and how not sexual this is? Maybe it will make it easier to do this in front of Sans?_ Just like the shower with hundreds of other girls after training classes. Nothing big. She got undressed, and then got redressed. Undyne just waved after she was done.

"See? No one killed you."

"Oh, your humps were pretty." Alphys blushed. "Not sexy, just pretty. I mean? You know."

"Oh, okay." Frisk gestured down. "My humps are breasts."

"Is there a purpose to breasts? Besides to squeeze?" Alphys asked.

Of course. Yeah, she would see that in her anime. "Um, yes. We nurse our children with them."

"Oh. They are huge for nursing nipples. But, unique, and hey! Isn't that great?" Undyne was trying. "Nothing bad about that."

"Yes, and you had a nice shape," Alphys offered too. "Want to try again yet?"

Frisky watched the both of them. Alphys was being polite. Undyne was being polite, but she seemed to think Frisky's body was kind of odd. "Okay." She tried it again.

"You're very pretty fleshy," Alphys added.

"Yeah. Some Monsters like the feel of flesh too," Undyne said. "So, see? No big thing. It'll be just like this in front of Sans. You don't feel bad still, do you?" She asked. "I can attempt to kill you again like last time if it makes it easier."

"No, uh, I got it," Frisky said. It was still going to feel weird, but, as long as it wasn't a thing. Maybe if she just thought of Sans as one of the girls? "Can we get dressed again?"

"You really need to feel better about your body," Alphys insisted. "How about a few minutes of casual conversation?"

"Yeah." Undyne nodded. "So, Frisky. What kind of jokes did you like best from him? Like, fart jokes? Don't say fart jokes."

"Knock-knock jokes? Or his puns?" Alphys asked.

Frisky scratched her head softly. Were they going to try and give Sans marriage tips like everyone else? "All of the above? I just like it when he's himself." She chuckled as she remembered what Chara said. "He's . . . my Legendary Fart Master." She started to laugh and felt her cheeks grow hot as she covered her mouth. _And what did I just say?!_ _Change. Subject. Now._ "I mean, I have a question for you, Undyne? Your house is around halfway between Snowdin, the Ruins, and the Lab area? Do you think we could maybe all get the Conduits together to play? You see, Conduits spending time together really helps them stay on track."

"My place?" Undyne didn't look too comfortable with that. "Little human . . . I mean, Conduits? My place?"

"Oh! Oh, Frisky, that's a great idea!" Alphys insisted, almost jumping up and down. "Oh, Undyne! I mean, if it's not much trouble? Um, I almost . . . I-I." She started to look away and rub at her eye. "I almost lost one. And, I didn't even get to know them well enough for a name. But, I do now! Chance used to call them AM and PM. So, I named the girl Morning and the boy is Night."

"Morning and Night. Beautiful Monster names," Frisky insisted.

"Yeah, but, um, it was so quick. Will spending time with Chance really help?" Alphys had to ask. "Because I don't . . ."

"All of them spending time together helps them all. Makes them feel less lonely. Playing with other Monster children will probably help too, but, only Conduits? They are the _only_ ones who know what each other's been though. When they have their body taken away." Frisky looked away slightly. "What they went through in their cells. How they became such good children. Chance had me, and it helped? But, even I couldn't stop everything. And the others had no defense." She sighed. "It would really be a good idea to have a meeting spot for the kids."

"Yes. The Ruins is so far, and then getting Chance in all the time. And I know bringing four Conduits all the way to the Lab is rough." Alphys looked toward Undyne. "It would be just like an hour? Maybe? A couple nights a week or something?"

"Oh. Well?" Undyne couldn't take her eyes off of Alphys. "The change sounds awful fast. And terrible, I remember how much you hurt from that. Yeah. So, an hour every day is fine for you. I just don't want to see you get that upset again over this. Okay?"

"Yes, yes!" Alphys insisted. "Thank you so much, Undyne! I am sure Morning and Night will really appreciate it."

"Great. We'll all work out the times," Frisky said. "Now can I put my clothes on?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot. Go ahead, Frisky," Undyne insisted. "See? We even _forgot_ you were naked during a conversation. Maybe that's a good tip? Get into a conversation with Sans while you're naked. And, I would probably do that same kind of undressing too."

"Yeah, you going fast might be a built in mechanism to keep hiding yourself," Alphys insisted. "You went fast the first time, but you did better the second time. You should undress slower and completely like that. You'll feel better."

 _Slower?_ "Are you sure about that?" Frisky asked as she put her top back on.

"Don't start getting all fidgety. We just all had a conversation while we were naked," Undyne pointed out. "Then, you just seemed to get much more comfortable. Yeah, you need conversation while you're getting undressed for him. That'll help."

"Yes, and there's no reason to be ashamed or upset or anything about your body anymore," Alphys said. "And, um, you know? I, uh. I . . ." Alphys moved over toward Undyne and whispered something in her ear. "So, I don't know? What do you think?"

"I don't know. I doubt it. I mean, they are opposites, but that opposite?" Undyne just looked toward Frisky. "Don't worry about what Alphys asked. I think you're ready. And don't stretch it out, do it tonight."

"You will both feel so much better," Alphys smiled oddly " . . . I think."

"I _know_ ," Undyne said as she started to put her own armour back on. "Trust me. You need to get used to this. It's going to make things a lot easier as time goes by. For him too. Don't let him keep thinking you're _scared_ of him. You know?"

 _Well. He's doing everything else. More hours. We live in his house. Clothes. Food. We aren't out there just surviving, so._ "Okay. Alright. I'll try. No. I will have the determination to do this."

"There we go. I'll take you home now. Alphys?" Undyne asked. "I'll go pick up your little Conduits too."

"Thanks. That saves time." Alphys waved as she watched them leave. She dialed up Sans.


	41. Dad Took Care of It

"Those were some long hours," Papyrus said. "But, Undyne says she'll fix them though. Probably soon."

"Yeah, she should be bringing Frisky home." Sans took a bite out of the burger Papyrus had bought from Snowdout. "This is pretty good."

"This is just one random thing! There's so much over there," Papyrus insisted. "It's a wonderful time for Monsters and Balancers. Just not humans." Papyrus bit into his own burger. "Speaking of humans? How are you doing with the manifestation?"

"It's not easy." Sans shook his head as he took another bite of his burger. "Tongue is one thing. A little translucent skin, I can do that. Full manifestation though? I don't think I can do it. Three months, six months. I can't figure it out."

"But we can," Papyrus reminded him. "It's been done. It is supposed to be tough, but, even a few minutes of full manifestation would help with the practice."

"I can't do anything for a few minutes or a few seconds." Sans groaned and put down his burger. "Thanks, Papyrus. I just don't feel so hungry."

"What?!" Papyrus put his own burger down. "Sans! You're always hungry. Are you okay?"

"She won't let me see her." Sans shook his head. "I don't think she's scared of me anymore. But."

"Poor, poor, Sansy," Flowey teased. "Don't worry! It'll make sense when you see her."

"Well, I don't care. I don't care if she looks weird underneath," Sans insisted. "I don't care if she'll feel weird. I just." He scooted the chair back. "She's not Monster. It makes it harder."

"I know she's not." Papyrus picked his burger back up. "But you're good friends. Isn't that enough?"

"Not enough to figure this out." Sans tried to pick the burger back up. It tasted so different and good. "I focus on my foot, and then I move to my arm, and then I lose the foot. And I can't even get past translucent blue. Everything's just translucent blue."

"Well? I'm sorry." Papyrus gulped. "I guess. If it were that easy, no Skeletons would have gotten tossed into the mountain."

"I've got a lot of power though. I've got a lot." Sans felt himself pushing down on his teeth. "But it doesn't make a difference if I can't figure this out. I need a full manifestation, Papyrus, and I can't do it. I've even read the books that say it's possible, but I just _can't_."

"Well? Maybe you should focus on . . ." Papyrus shook his head. "I don't know. If you don't have it down in three months, Sans, um."

"I know." Sans backed away from the table. "Not an option. Frisky is spooked enough with me. I doubt she'll feel comfortable with me climbing on her with King Asgore and Queen Toriel watching and helping. That's just not an option. Especially if it's the first time I get a body for her. That'd be tough on both of us."

"Yes. I know. A body will be really different." Papyrus crinkled his burger wrapper as he took his last bites. "Skeletons used to master it though, I suppose? And you must have known in the past. How else did you ever have Chance?"

Sans shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But, I don't know. At least it's not painful, that's a good thing. I heard some Monsters even like it. When I asked about it, it even made Dogamy and Dogaressa go nuts." He scratched his skull. "I just kind of left that display. Hope they aren't too mad."

"Yes. Although some actually hate it," Papyrus warned him. "Others say it is kind of painful, but those are usually very incompatible Monsters. Huge size differences. You are about the same size, so it probably won't be too bad?"

"I don't have any ideas what to expect." Flowey just snickered in the middle of the table at Sans. "If you want to sleep with Papyrus tonight, you better be good."

"Sure, Smiley Trashbag! I haven't done a thing." Still, he snickered again.

"Well, how about the big basics? Um, how did you manage the arm? That might help?" Papyrus suggested.

Sans shrugged. "Not good. Translucent blue. Nothing solid. I can feel the temperature, but it's nowhere close to real. No muscle or anything." He sighed. "I mean, we manifest by want or need. So, how am I going to do this? Without the King and Queen's extra help, I don't know if I'll figure this out. But I can't wait 'til then. Frisky gets nervous enough."

"Anyone helping at all?" Papyrus asked.

"I've asked just about everyone in Snowdin if they could help. No one knows manifestation. They all know sex and have different opinions. Most of them say it's boring and to concentrate on something good, or just get in position before bed and sleep. Some of them said it's okay. Some said it's nicer than cuddling. Others said it was painful. It's all the same stuff you heard." Sans wrapped up his burger for later. "Any suggestions, Papyrus?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry," Papyrus said sadly. "Well, one way or the other."

"Coats." Flowey snickered.

"What?" Sans watched him. He knew something again. "Hey, what did you say when Conner was here last night? I was too tired to remember."

"Doesn't matter, you already screwed that up," Flowey insisted. "Don't worry, Smiley Trashbag! Tonight I've got a new surprise for you! You're going to find out why you always had so many coats for a Skeleton." He winked. "In fact, when it comes to sex! The hard part isn't what you think."

"You mean manifesting a body? That's really hard," Sans admitted. "Maybe if I practiced every day for two years. Skeleton kids used to do it all the time."

"Yeah, but, things change. Their little bodies were able to move in transitions easier when they were smaller," Papyrus reminded him. "At least I think so. I think I remember that."

"Not that, Sansy."

"Well, it doesn't get harder than that," Sans said. Flowey just snickered again. "What?" That flower was going to keep secrets again. At least for now. It was Flowey after all. He stood up and put the burger away in the fridge and came back.

"No. That's not the difficult part," Flowey said, adding more to his single word statement. "I would say convincing Frisky to do that kind of an ACT is going to be tough."

"But, according to what I've read," Papyrus said, "it said humans like the feeling of sex. It's quite pleasurable. So that shouldn't be tough."

"Yeah," Sans agreed. "I'm the one with the tough part. Her only problem is being shy of her body. I'm the one who has to make a body."

"Oh, you guys. You know? Sometimes, I just. Resets. I _hate_ resets. So many changes. So much knowledge, just _gone_." Flowey shook his petals. "You'll learn, Smiley Trashbag. You'll learn. I'll tell you what? Before bed, leave your coat down here."

"You mean my clothes?"

"No, just your coat."

"How come?"

"Keep your shirt and shorts. Leave your coat." Flowey looked like he was trying to hide a laugh. "Hey, I've been _trying_ to help, haven't I?"

"It is just a coat," Papyrus pointed out. "The flower has been very forthcoming about things."

"Fine. I'll leave my coat," Sans insisted. As he was taking off his coat and putting it next to Flowey though, his phone went off. "Yep?"

"Sans! Great news! We got her to get naked."

"That's great, Alphys," Sans said. "Not that I care, but . . . umm, there's nothing _weird_ , right? Not that I care."

"She's just fleshy. Like, the flesh you see on her already. Oh, but she does have fleshy nursing parts too. A little bit of extra hair. But mostly, it's all flesh. Um. You should be fine? I think? Uh. You might. You know you're opposites, you might . . . uh, nevermind. It's nothing. Anything else?"

"Well. Not unless you know how to manifest a body."

"No, I don't do manifestation."

"Yeah, I figured."

"Oh, but when you do figure it out, Mettaton could probably help you learn how to use it? He's kind of got a similar thing since he's not actually what he appears to be. If he learned to get all jiffy with all his parts, he should be able to help with your basic parts better than anyone else."

"Great. That's a real big when though."

"Oh, but, back to Frisky? She actually got more comfortable during conversation. You might want to have a real conversation while she's naked. It might help. Might. And, Undyne and I think that she might try and do it fast, which will still be a hindrance in getting used to it. So, make her go slow? Unless you . . . umm. Well, uh. You know, there is a real good chance you might really like her body? Because your opposites."

"Well, that would be good? Right?"

"Um. Yes? If you do, something might . . . have you had any girlfriends at all?"

"No. So?"

"Anyone you've ever wanted as a girlfriend?"

"Nuh uh."

"Okay then. Well. Yeah for surprises. Let's see, what else? There was something else. Oh. Undyne said flesh kind of feels a little weird."

"Yeah, I've bumped it on my bone before. Plus, I've grabbed hands before. Not a biggie."

"Well, actually before Frisky showed up Undyne confessed it felt weird. She said the front is soft and squishier. So, just be nice to her flesh. Okay? It's tender."

"Uh?" That was confusing. "Squishy flesh? Flesh was already pretty squishy. Like, slimy?" Eh. "Not that that matters. I mean, great. I don't mind slime."

"She has a slimy front?" Papyrus questioned him. "Well, that's different."

"Well. Uh, who cares?" Sans said. "Soft, slimey or squishy. I'll like Frisky for Frisky."

"I don't know if it's like that. It doesn't look slimy. Um. Anyhow. Oh! Before I go! We are going to start getting the kids together each day at Undyne's for an hour."

"Undyne's, huh?" So, Frisky did it.

"I guess that's it. Oh, did you want me to ask around Hotlands about sex and Skeletons? See if anyone knows anything at all, or old books or something?"

"Sure. I already asked all around Snowdin. Checked out all the books I could find. Nobody seems to know much more than me or Papyrus. I guess 'cause it's mainly a Skeleton thing."

"Okay. Um. I'll see what I can dig up for you. I'm sure you'll get there, Sans. You need to. Frisky is a shy one, and she won't be real happy if she has to have sex in front of King Asgore and Queen Toriel if you don't-"

"I know, I know. Three months. To figure out the impossible. Later, Alphys." Sans hung up and just heard Flowey snicker again.

What was so funny to that flower all the time?

"Well, that thing is finally off." Chance came into the room, the ball off his foot with just the chain dangling.

"Hey, you did it finally," Sans said proudly. "I thought it'd take a couple days. Good job, My Kid."

"Sure, pops, yeah."

Hm? "Hey, Chance, where are you headed?" Chance started to go to the front door and opened it. "Nuh uh, My Kid. It's getting cold out there. Even your mom is coming back soon." He wasn't listening. "Chance?"

Chance ran out the door.

"Papyrus, I have a bad feeling!" Sans didn't take much time. He took a shortcut to Frisky's room, grabbed the locket, and ran out the door, trying to pull Chance back. Like he thought, it wasn't working. He and Papyrus tried to stay up but he was running faster, and even dodging the magic pulls.

 _No. No, no, no!_ Sans pushed more energy into retrieving him. "Pap! That's the FRISK! Someone took over my kid!" Sans stayed up with him, watching Chance, and hoping that he didn't kill any Monsters. He was strictly running for an area past their house, taking them deeper into the snow. "He is aiming for the area he took Frisky."

"Oh no, what do we do?" Papyrus asked as he and Sans kept up. "Sans?!"

"No one can hold him for longer than a few minutes with the barrier." The area was getting closer. It couldn't save or reset anymore, but it would still be tough to beat. "Pap, you have to fight Chance!"

"What?!"

Whoever took Chance over knew something about that area. It was too convenient. The Frisk's had tried to take Frisky away that way. Somehow, that hole must still be open. The length was too hard for a mere human to travel though. _So, you think you can just take my kid as your personal little car?_ ** _Mistake!_** _Last one you'll make._ "Papyrus, take this and take care of him." Sans threw him the locket. "I'll be back."

"What do you mean?"

"Fight him for the time it has. Chance will be okay, just fight him. I promised Frisky that no one would hurt them." Sans teleported away.

Papyrus got close enough to pull it into an encounter. **PAPYRUS** **: ACT: Talk.** "Get out of my nephew right now you mean human!"

 **FRISK: ACT: Talk.** "Oh, you won't hurt anyone." Chance wrinkled his nose. "Even if you did beat me, you're too nice to kill, you just capture." He shrugged. "Even the conduit will probably be fine. I'm just bailing out of here. Don't worry, Monster. Everything will be fine. I'm PACIFIST. I won't kill you. Just let me go."

 **PAPYRUS** **: ACT: Talk.** "No, that is my little nephew. And I, the Great Papyrus, will not allow it! I don't know why Sans left personally, but, I know that he must have a plan. And he told me that I needed to fight you. So, um. I will fight you! I must fight you."

 **FRISK: ACT: Talk.** "Why fight? I'll just avoid your attacks. Don't you see? I just want out of here. I even promise to bring the boy back down. What do you say? Huh?"

 **PAPYRUS: FIGHT** _I am so sorry, Chance! I must believe that this is simply an ACT by this person._ He started to manifest bones and pull them towards Chance. Chance dodged them all, until the last two.

FRISK fell, grabbing at it's legs where it got hit. It must have been surprised to be so weak. **FRISK: ACT: Talk.** "Why couldn't I dodge that well? Why am I starting to feel so cold?"

Papyrus watched as something flew out of Chance into the sky. His nephew fell on the ground. "Chance!" **MERCY: Flee.** "I'm coming, I'm coming! Uncle Papyrus is here." He scooped him up. "It's okay. I will get you home. It will be okay. You have some injuries, but they will be alright. I promise! You have my word, and that is as good as GOLD! Well you can't buy anything with it, but you can still have it!"

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' house . . .**

"LV 19. It takes LV 19 before you fight." The human begged in it's own blood. "I was PACIFIST. I wasn't even able to defend myself." It tried to move away with the piercing bone inside its own bone. It screamed.

"Human. _You_. You tell others." Sans closed his eyes again, bring them from the flaming blue and yellow pulsing to a deep dark black. "My kid. It's off limits. Anyone tries to use him. There is a penalty. I don't care if you're PACIFIST or not. And if anybody does try, then so help them if Papyrus and I don't find where they are hiding. 'Cause I don't care if your body is helpless while your soul is in my kid. If you're not playing fair _, I won't either_." He picked the human up, took a shortcut to Waterfalls and dropped him off, then returned home just in time to hear Papyrus.

"I hurt him!" Papyrus shouted from in front of the house.

Sans came out from behind the house. "He'll be okay. You distracted it long enough for me to find it's body."

"That mean, mean human!"

"It won't come back. Come on, Pap. Let's check out Chance. He's probably not as bad as you think." When they got him inside, they checked his legs. "Mild bruising. He's pretty tough, remember?"

"Yes." Still, Papyrus was sad. "A human soul can just take him over whenever they want."

"They won't. Not once they learn." Sans just smiled down at Chance. "Hey My Kid, you okay now?"

Chance groaned and looked at him. "Huh?" He sat up on the couch. "What happened?"

"Little mishap. Doubt it will happen again. But look, your chain's off. I guess I never said it had to be you to snap it." He held out his bony hand toward him. "You want another burger? We still have plenty."

"Yeah. I feel kind of weak," Chance agreed. "A burger sounds good, Sans. But, did someone take me over?" His eyes were wide and big, so scared, it was plain to see to anyone. "Someone took me over and it wasn't momma."

"Yeah," Sans said honestly, "but no worries. Your dad took care of it, My Kid." Sans winked at him. "Now, up. Let's get you another burger."


	42. It's A Good Thing, Right?

The burger was good, but Frisky had trouble concentrating. She knew she had a tremendous task in front of her. And at the same, she couldn't pretend it was a tremendous task. Chance however was distracting her a little. "You okay, Chance?"

"Um. Uh huh." Chance took a bite of his burger. "I missed you."

"Yeah, but, I had to do something." Frisky took a bite of her own burger. She looked toward Sans and Papyrus and sensed something too. "What happened?"

"Someone took over Chance," Sans told her. "But, it's fine. I took care of it. Doubt they'll be back."

Oh no. "Chance, someone took you over? How are you feeling?"

"I was weak, but, the burger helps," Chance said taking another bite of his burger.

 _Who was it? Who messed with Chance?_

"It's okay," Papyrus assured here. "Sans really did take care of it. The human will not be back."

"It headed toward where the Frisks tried to take you away at," Sans said. "There might be some kind of hole there."

"That hole is no good," Frisky assured them. "There has to be a waiting ship. Communication out of the barrier is impossible. Chara's made it that way." She smiled toward her son. "It's okay."

"I know." Chance nodded. "I just need more rest. I feel like I got whacked pretty hard."

Papyrus practically plummeted his head on the table. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Uncle Papyrus," Chance said. "I don't blame you. I'll be fine."

"Really, Pap, it couldn't be helped. I needed you to distract it so I could find the body," Sans said, patting his back. "I didn't kill the human, but, um. I made sure it knew never to come back."

"I heard the bone break from in here," Flowey just had to say. "Good job."

Was he being mean or nice? With that statement, and it being from Flowey, it was hard to tell. Frisky watched Chance starting to glaze over his food. Rest was what he needed more. Healing with food was good, but it was more than just the fight. He needed real rest when someone took him over. _The nerve. Someone coming after him like that. They thought he was the easy one since The Ruins would require fighting_ _Toriel_ _, or they would have to go through the lab._

"The food isn't enough. He's really weak," Papyrus said. "That's okay. It's about bedtime anyhow." He looked toward the flower. "Do I really have to sleep with it, Sans?"

"Don't worry about me," Flowey said. "Not yet. I'll wait right here for now."

Frisky lowered his burger away. Chance was so tired, he didn't even realize she lowered it.

"Come, Chance!" Papyrus said as he scooped him up. "Don't worry. You'll be safe in bed soon. Okay?" Chance was out like a light though. "Goodness. He really does get worn out, doesn't he?" He took him upstairs.

"Not good at holding energy well, is he?" Sans asked. "Guess he got that from me."

"He is always weak afterward. The longer it's been the worse he is. Practically infantile after months," Frisky said.

"Yeah, I remember. Heh. Weird." He leaned his bony hand into his jawbone. "That was the day I thought the resets would stop and life would go back to normal. Well, I was right about the reset part."

"Life just goes," Frisky said. "Good or bad, it moves."

"Yep." Sans started to yawn. "Ready for bed?"

"Not really. Wide awake." She wasn't lying about that. Determination. Determination. _Just like the girls. Just like the girls. Only Sans. No big deal._

"Too bad. I have work early, and we are supposed to go to sleep together," Sans said. "Come on, Frisky."

"Don't worry, Frisky." Flowey winked. "You're not the only one having an awkward time. Well. _Soon._ Night-night."

 _He left his coat. Why did he leave his coat? Why wasn't Sans wearing his coat? He always wore his coat? Why am I even distracting myself with this?_ Frisky stood up rigidly. _Another ACT. This is not something that poses a threat to me or my life. The fight or flight feeling I have is simply nerves, but it is unfounded. There is no_ _hypersexualization_ _. It will be fine. It is only because he is male. That's all._

Frisky moved up the stairs. Just change and get it over with. When she went into the room, she saw no one. When she looked behind her, she saw Sans by the closed door.

Flowey fiddled with Sans' coat. He'd make it easier to see and grab as he eavesdropped on the conversation above. Even behind closed doors, his hearing was perfect.

"Okay. Did you get enough determination built up?" Sans voice. Oh, he had no idea what he was in store for. "Sorry. Okay, Frisky. Alphys and Undyne both gave me some tips. They said I should talk to you while you undress. Have a conversation. You do better with it, right?

"I . . . I don't really know."

"A conversation," Flowey chuckled. "Sure, have a conversation with her getting undressed, Sansy boy."

"Okay, pick the subject and we'll talk about it while you're getting undressed. They also said you might dress faster and this would still be a hindrance. I really don't want that. You just don't get how _important_ it is for you to be comfortable with me for some reason. Once I feel your ready, I'll give you your PJ's? Cool?"

"Faster and quiet would be easier." Ah, Frisky's voice of knowledge that Sans was going to deny.

"Alphys and Undyne both saw you naked. And Undyne was the one who tried to kill you once. I mean, okay, not the best comparison I was going for there. Just, really? I don't care if you've got weird humps, bumps, hair or if you feel slimey underneath. None of that matters. Go on. You're the star. Pick the conversation and let's talk. If you don't, I will."

"I can't think of conversation topics right now."

Flowey couldn't help himself, covering his mouth with his petals, trying to stay quiet. Poor schmuck. No idea.

"Welp. How about a comparison? So, let's talk about these different places around the Underground. Just next to us is Snowdout. What else is there?"

"Can I close my eyes?"

"You know? Okay, I'll give you that one. Once your naked you'll eventually feel more comfortable. But, you have to open your eyes before I give you back your clothes. Just a second." He was quiet for about a minute. "I figured I'd go first for you. See? All bones, all the way around. Nothing to fear. Okay?"

Flowey heard shoes being dropped to the floor. "Two minutes."

"Conversation, Frisky. What else is around here? Is Snowdout the only good place?"

"No, there are several places. You need to travel past Snowdout to run into more. The only other connecting areas are a human freedom barrier base."

"Human freedom barrier base, huh? I heard of that from Papyrus today."

"One more minute," Flowey said casually.

"Actually there is also a Balancer area between the human freedom barrier. That is usually the way it works. As long as a human knows how to ACT right then they will be fine."

Nope, not a whole minute. Flowey already caught Sans rushing out of the room and downstairs.

Sans ran as quick as possible to his coat and zipped it up with Flowey laughing at him. "What do you know, what have you been hiding?!"

Flowey just laughed. "Saw Frisky naked, didn't ya?"

"Flowey!"

"Alright, alright." Flowey bopped his head to the left. "The reaction you felt." He bopped his head to the right. "Is your ancestral **drive**. You see, dear ol' Mister Idiot, thousands and thousands of years ago Monsters actually got with humans. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." Sans shifted around, feeling weird. "Speed it up, I can't hold time in a room I'm not in very long."

"Aww, you usually don't shout much, Sansy. Feeling a little strained or _strange_? Anyhow, long story short, no information has been found about their descendants because Balancers and humans don't like Monster to human connections. And? They are you. Skeletons. Didn't you ever wonder how only Skeletons could manifest themselves to look like humans? That they had the same kind of Skeleton _as_ a human? You're the ancient relation from them."

"Okay, great, interesting, but hurry it up."

 _"_ Testy, testy," Flowey snickered. "Notice how you haven't had much sexual attraction to any Monsters? Well, that's cause like it or not, you've got a physical attraction to things that your ancient ancestors liked the most. Namely, **humans**. And, you have the same drive a human man has to a human woman. Ergo, you wouldn't see Frisky as a sweet naked wife your just comfortable cuddling with. You're physically _aroused_." Flowey looked away. "That's why humans cover up so much. Too much skin and hello new standing body part! But, hey. I did promise to share why you had so many coats. You had all kinds of shirts and shorts, but most of all coats! Coats, coats, coats! Because of the problem that tends to pop up." Flowey bopped around for a few seconds. "You're going to want to wipe off that sweat. You don't want to make her feel uncomfortable, do you?"

"You couldn't have bothered to tell me any of this before I asked her to do that?" Sans looked back upstairs. "I don't like this. Monsters shouldn't feel this. I-I shouldn't care _how_ she looks."

"What do you mean, Sansy?" Flowey teased him. "You were sooo worried about not being able to have sex before three months. Like, you couldn't manifest anything. Well, congrats! You figured out how to make the only part that really counts for it. And the good news is? If you couldn't tell from all the coats you always had? Yeah? Yeah. That's not going to go away. Just like your tongue. Still there too. Always will be now. That's because your body is always going to want to be ready. It wants and needs to be ready. Actually, I believe the word for it is **lust**." He laughed one more time. "Don't worry, Smiley Trashbag! When I see the Underground changing and something about to disappear, I always grab something. I have a book that will explain what's happening to you. But like I said, you better go see Frisky. And, remember?" Flowey winked at him. "You're supposed to be ** _comfortable_** with her form. Thank goodness you don't have to worry about physical expressions so much, Skeleton man! Just keep a wide smile with your big old teeth, and hang on."

Sans shook his bony finger at him. "You. I'll be back." He darted upstairs.

On a scale of 1-10, what Flowey did was pretty evil. It made him feel a little better. Just 'cause he was slowly becoming good, didn't mean he was going to turn overnight.

Flowey heard Frisky speaking again, looked like Sans stopping of time trick was over.

"If they don't, then they will end up as a meal. But, I am very good at acting, so this wouldn't have posed much of a threat to me. Human freedom barriers are the only place humans can inhabit, or areas with no laws."

"Snowdout doesn't allow humans . . . but they also have a much better display inside of them with nicer laws. I think that you'll probably . . .okay?"

Flowey waited to hear Sans' words. Expression for a skeleton, easy. Words? Ooh.

"Yep." Sans' voice. A little uneven.

"Not . . . awkward?"

"Fine. Completely fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely fine, Frisky? What did you expect?"

"Okay. Well. Good. Can I have my PJ's now?"

"Here you go. B-better?"

Oops. A stutter. Smiley Trashbag was falling.

"Yeah, actually. A little strange still, but, I'm okay. I'm sorry. You see, I'm not really." Frisky paused. "Humanity and nudity, it's not _just_ protection. Guys, really, really like the female body. It's one of the reasons Conner never tended to give up."

"Oh. Kay."

"Um. Well, just hear my um's," Frisky chuckled. "You know, I have been through a lot. A _lot_ more than just the Underground. I've been through so many things that would have killed so many regular humans. All the missions, but I'm still really new to all this. And this world is so different. You see, Alphys and Undyne had a heck of a time to get me naked. They had to explain about so many differences. While so much is discussed so openly it's not from my world."

"Oh?" A little too high for Sans.

"Yeah. Which is a shame. I'd walk around all day completely naked but there are consequences. A human body form, for human males, it really turns them on and then this really weird thing starts to happen. It's nice knowing that I don't have to worry about anything with you. Ever since Conner caught me naked, he's been puppy doggying me ever since. It's why he wanted me to be subservient."

"Right. Yep."

"I detected a growl," Flowey snickered. He doubted Sans could hold out much longer. Besides, he had something extra up there now. His coat. No matter his acting skills, it couldn't go on much longer.

"It's nice though. Maybe it's better to have it all out in the open."

"Yep."

"Saaaans? Sans?"

"Hmmmmmmmm?"

"Um. Are? Are you absolutely sure," her voice cracked slightly, "that being naked is never, ever a big deal to Monsters? Sans?"

"Uh?"

"Why are you wearing your coat again? You left it downstairs. Downstairs, Sans!"

There it was.

"Hang on, Frisky, I-I know what you're thinking! You know? I do. Uh. You're thinking that uh, I might be, sort of, uhhh . . . Well? We're eventually going to have to have sex for the baby bones in three months, right?"

"Did you say sex?"

"Of course. Uh. Heh? Uh. This was not my fault, Flowey knew it would happen. He said to leave my coat . . . Uh. Okay, fine. This is cool. Um. You are my wife after all, so this is a good thing, right?"


	43. Solving Puzzles

*Knock Knock "Frisky?" *Knock knock "Faith?" *Knock knock "Um, wife? Can we please talk?"

Papyrus came out of his room. "Sans, it's past bedtime. What's going on?"

"I think we're having our first marriage fight. At least there's not an encounter," Sans tried to joke. "Please? Frisky, please let's talk? Give me a second chance? I mean, not like Chance, not right . . . that wasn't a pun. Frisky?"

"You can just take a shortcut in, you know," Papyrus said.

"No. She's mad. She needs to answer the door, talk to me willingly." Sans knocked on the door again. "Please? Everyone makes mistakes?" He kept knocking.

"What happened," Papyrus asked. "Sans?"

Sans left the door for a second and past Papyrus' room. "I did it. I didn't know. The flower _knew_ , but he didn't bother telling me." He rubbed the front of his skull. "I didn't take her being naked the right way."

"What? Sans, I am surprised at you," Papyrus scolded him. "Even if she was slimy or thorny or whatever! I-it's about the loving connection."

"That's what it should have been. But, it wasn't. Flowey told me later that Skeletons are more like humans in that area. Monsters and humans joining started the Skeletons."

"Oh." Papyrus shook his head. "I don't know what that means."

"Frisky was afraid to show _me_ herself because of the way human guys react. And, and my body reacted the same way. And Alphys convinced her, and Undyne convinced her, and even I convinced her that Monsters don't react that way. And, _I did_."

"Oh. So. Hmm." Papyrus looked toward Sans' and Frisky's bedroom door. "She's upset about that?"

"That and. Um. I don't think she understood we had to have sex to have a second kid."

"Well, what else?"

"Humans use a _lot_ more surgical approaches. She must have assumed it'd be that way." He shrugged.

"Oh. Do you mean everything just became much more complicated again?"

Sans nodded. "She picked the ACT of shove me out and lock the door." He shook his head. "Skip the Monster talk. I need Flowey's book. Maybe when I'm done reading, she'll be ready to open the door again." He knocked on the door. "Frisky? Faith? Um, I will be right back. I hope you open up soon?" He went past Papyrus. "Head back to bed, Pap. There's not much you can do."

"Oh. Okay. I am sorry, Sans," Papyrus offered as he headed back to his room. "I'm sure she'll get over this thing soon. Frisky always picks the right ACT eventually. Right? I mean, at the very least. She married you so there's no way out."

Sans didn't answer as he approached the flower. "Book." He roughly grabbed the pot, hearing the flower pleading to be careful. "You are getting that book for me now."

"Oh, come on, Smiley Trashbag! I'm learning to care, but I'm still a little evil, aren't I? Take a joke, why don't you? You had to grow the relationship somehow. You can't just pretend she's your friend, get a quick kiss on the cheek and expect her to be ready in three months." Flowey yelled as Sans shook the pot and let him drop in the snow outside. "Cold!"

"Book."

"Fine. You just had to say please, you know." Flowey disappeared a short amount of time before he came up with a book. "It might not be the best. I just grabbed something before I felt a shift coming. Not the top literature, just something. Still, it will beat anything around today."

Sans looked at the book. "Skeletons and Humans, Volume 3, Uncut Collector's Edition?"

"I like Collector edition stuff," Flowey said. "It's a habit. Also, Balancer Skeletons are kind of similar. They like humans too. Oh, and one more tidbit?"

"I don't care."

"The strongest Skeletons can manifest an entire human form."

"I don't care about that. I just want to read this." Actually, he wanted to go to bed, but that wasn't an option. He'd eventually have to suffer the couch if Frisky didn't let him in. He really didn't even care what the flower had to say, and wasn't going to listen. He just wanted to focus on the book.

"The very first Balancers created were technically Skeletons. Not in the 'oooh, yeah, sexy sexy' way with humans," Flowey continued, "but it was still a Monster-Human thing."

"I need to what?" That was a funny word. "A form of bait?"

"The very first Balancers are the most powerful. They are still around too," Flowey continued again.

"Kissing comes first before seeing each other naked but after dating. Seeing each other naked usually leads to sex," Sans said out loud. "That . . . that makes sense." He shifted again, remembering Frisky's body a moment and felt the warmth coming back. "Lust sucks. Why couldn't I just like her in a loving way like a Monster?"

"You can do both, but you _have_ to recognize your human drive too," Flowey warned him. "You can still be all like kisses and cuddles, just know that you need more too. By the way, I was talking? The very first Balancers were probably as powerful as you, without the hit flaw. Which I know got cleared up. So, have you even tried to see what you can do now? You're going to want to."

"There is that bait word again. Sex or bait?"

"Spelling differences between Monster and human is fun!" Flowey teased. "Yeah, but in all seriousness, you _need_ to listen up. The first Balancers were responsible for finding the best possible compatible mate. They wanted the best of the best, even putting their own selfish desires on hold to make sure they got the strong, super soldiers they wanted."

"It sounds too much like fishing. I really don't get it."

"It's being translated from human to Monster, not everything is going to make sense. I told you, I probably didn't grab the best," Flowey explained. "Anyhow, one of these Balancers was simply called X. He hated the name though, and he didn't like to be singled out. The first Balancers were always singled out for fights, so he kind of put his own power on the backburner."

"I could fish in Waterfalls maybe? Is this a way to relax? Do you just need to relax afterward?"

"And when they don't use any of their power, they look human. And he thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Training the ways he wanted humans to ACT. He also got top choice to see who the best had been."

"Where would I buy this bait?"

"He went so deep, he completely eliminated his name too, wanting a number. Only those in charge know who he is."

"Low on money. Can I get it in Snowdout?"

"His number is 04823."

Sans stopped paying attention to the book. Because of the cruelty of Flowey he didn't want to listen, but he just said something he couldn't ignore. "04823?"

"Yeah. PACIFIST teacher. He tried twice with Frisky's determination," Flowey reminded him. "So, while you need to progress your lovely little relationship, you also need to do more than that. He'll eventually find a way over, Smiley Trashbag, and he knows _all your moves_. Not to mention, he has enough power to fully give himself a body. There's no way Chara is going to let him pass right now, but eventually he'll find a way to get himself here and Frisky out." Flowey tossed an MP from his other stem. "May not have asked for it, but let's face it. It's more helpful than a half translated book. Can't do much of course. No signal. But, old info is still there."

Sans put the book on the ground and started to dig through the MP. There wasn't much on it, but there was a ton about him. "Collecting? He was down here?"

"Come on, Smiley Idiot. You know what to do now, right?" Flowey winked. "She's mad at you. She locked you out. But you know what? She's still _yours_. If you can't beat him when he comes here, then she won't be sulking upstairs. She'll be on a table, probably ready for the third try. Oh." He chuckled. "Correction. She's probably not upstairs. She is probably with the Frisks, trying to work out the best strategy to deal with everything. You know her!"

"She's with the Frisks?"

"Which is a good thing because you're going to need some real good sparring partners," Flowey smiled bright and big. "There's no one that knows you better, is there? I recommend Farrisk. He was the one who had the best battle coordination."

Hm. "Rather battle Friskarino."

"Yeah. This isn't a sweet battle. When you can beat Farrisk easier, then take on Friskay. She'll _really_ try and kill you, so she'll be harder." Flowey winked. "Don't recommend Friskarino. Human drive also has a lot of jealousy like Monster drive. So, that wouldn't be a good thing."

"Hm?" Jealousy? "What do you mean?"

Flowey chuckled. "You still don't know what Frisky liked about you? You weren't _special_ in any way at all. You were just . . . the dumb idiot you always are. Joking, punny, you're annoying fart jokes. Her world sucks so she likes humor. Know anyone else like that?"

" . . ." Sans held his bony finger up. "He was the one who helped her back, who helped me find her, who-"

"Yeah, of course he was. He's Integrity." Flowey bopped his head around for a few seconds. "But he was also very into your Frisky. So, like I said-"

"She's _my_ wife now!"

"Okay. Yeah. Got it," Flowey said. "Human and Monster drive, not a good combination. They haven't been into each other for years though."

"Did he see her naked?"

"And there's that annoying human drive kicking in. Probably not? I don't know?"

"But you know everything!"

"Not everything. Almost everything. Easy, Sansy. I'm just letting you know a basic fact to kind of be mean? Because my _mean_ spirit is starting to go down. I need to balance out caring with being mean. It makes me feel a bit better."

"I can be funnier. It's been a stressful time but I could take him on."

"That's . . . not the point," Flowey said. "Come on, concentrate!"

"She never said a word about him in the Soul bearing."

"Well, I don't think past boyfriends with no difficulty is just going to flow out, Smiley Trashbag." Flowey chuckled. "Seriously. What's your next step?"

"She's with him right now? But . . ." Sans started to look at his bony fingers. "I'm sheltering and GOLD and same bed and . . ."

"I _lied_!" Flowey yelled at him. "Geez, I just wanted to annoy you. I don't know anything about personal relationships, it's not on an MP." He smiled again. "Good, I haven't lost my touch yet."

Sans raised his bony arms over his head like he was going to explode. "Flowey! How am I supposed to know when you are telling the truth and when you aren't?"

Flowey just chuckled. "I don't know. I'm complicated. But, human and Monster drive combinations are fun to play with. How could I resist? Besides, I didn't say there was no interest between them. I just said I don't know."

Then, Sans heard Frisky laugh up in their room. He looked up toward his bedroom window. "She laughed." He tightened his bony hands. "She might be up there right now with him."

"I lied," Flowey said again. "Lied, Idiot. Hey? Smiley Trashbag?"

Sans headed back in the house and straight to his bedroom. Their bedroom. He knocked on the door but still didn't get an answer. "That's it." He took a shortcut into his room and saw Friskarino over in the corner with Frisky.

"Hey, Sans." Friskarino gestured toward Frisky, knocking her lightly on the chin. "Sorry you two are having problems. Can't be easy between a Monster and a human." Frisky just continued to look out the window. "Okay. You two are going to need a dialogue I suppose."

Frisky still wasn't looking back at Sans. "I'm so confused."

Friskarino held her hand. "Hey, it's okay. Trust me. You and I know it's probably just an accident. It's okay there's nothing to be ashamed of. Hey, come on?"

"I know," Frisky muttered. "Thanks for coming when I called."

"Hey I couldn't say no, it's in my name," Friskarino shrugged and chuckled.

"Couldn't say yes then, 'cause it's not **_in your name_** ," Sans countered him, shoving his bony hands deep in his coat pockets. "A Friskarino **_sans_** a **_no_** , is just a Frisk, and never a Sans."

"Oh. Hey, that's a good one?" Friskarino smiled.

"Better than a good ** _two_**."

"Uh? You all right, Sans?"

"Nah, I'm all ** _write_** today, and I've got more than a few **_note_** s for you."

Friskarino scratched his head. "Um. Kay?"

"Kay is just a letter but I **_alphabet ta_** not see you in here again."

Friskarino leaned himself up. "Problem?"

"Yeah, and the **_solution_** is to get out."

"I will but Frisky called me. You said I could see her?" Friskarino shrugged.

"Oh, I ** _see_** your point but the **_perspective_** in those words is a little **_blind_**."

"Clearly I've gotten something wrong." Friskarino looked back at Frisky. "I think I should go." Frisky grabbed onto his arm. "I know, but Sans isn't happy." She squeezed harder on his arm. "Okay, I don't know what your problem is, Sans, but Frisky needs time to absorb this."

"She needs time to **_unwind_** , but that doesn't include you so **_watch_** yourself."

"She is a human that has to have sex with a Monster, Sans. This isn't a _small_ thing, and I am trying to help her adjust."

"Are those puns, human?"

"Puns?" Friskarino scratched his head, thinking back to what he said. "No? I'm being serious, those aren't puns. I know it's possible for Monster and human, she's your wife, but she didn't understand and she just needs time to grip the situation." He stomped his foot on the floor. "Those aren't puns either, I swear. It's just coming out that way. Come on?"

Sans stared at Friskarino next to the wife who refused to look or talk to him. He jiggled the wrappers in his coat pocket.

"I'm _only_ here because you wouldn't let any of the others come, or they would all be here," Friskarino reminded him. "And if there's any pun hiding in there, I'm sorry. It's the truth though." Friskarino took Frisky's hand off his arm. "Sorry. You'll have to ACT with him and figure it out yourself. You'll be fine, Frisky." He teleported away.

* * *

Three months. A baby with Sans. Her mind couldn't quit thinking of stripping in front of him, believing it was completely fine. That was nothing compared to what was in the future. She'd never had sex before, but at least . . . at least Conner was human. Now, she had to have sex with an actual Monster?

It wasn't that Sans was bad, but, physical sex? Monster? It hadn't happened in so very long. There wasn't even much written about it, from the times of old when such a thing happened. There was sex with Balancers, but that never went well. It was either one-sided, or rare. The most decent of Balancers were still like Monsters in that they didn't want anything to do with them. So.

Sans wasn't a Balancer. He was just a simple . . . Frisky sighed. He drove Friskarino away too. Why'd he have to do that? He was trying to make her feel better about everything, and Sans actually started laying right into him! Friskarino didn't do anything, and it wasn't fair. Sans and Papyrus said he could visit, but they didn't want the others. So what was that?

And now, she had to deal with the facts by herself. _Chanc_ _e should be with Sans. Sans deserved him. He is taking care of us. Even if I didn't know it would be some physical thing with a Monster, I . . . it was still what I had to do._ Frisky thought that Friskay had just been being mean when she said the primitive way. _I mean, that way was so primitive. There was no manipulation to create anything that was superior in any way. Just leaving it all up to nature? Is it really that_ ** _primitive_** _down here? How did they ever get the barrier down_ _missing even_ _that level of technology?_

"Frisky?"

Sans was trying to talk to her again. Couldn't she get any time to absorb what she had to do?

And how he just treated Friskarino? He didn't even do anything, and Sans didn't want him around? Why 'cause it was their room? Sans had his own magic powers, he could have come in whenever he wanted. Ridiculous. _Making me get undressed. Making me have a baby in a primitive way. And now, I can't see any of the Frisks. Thanks, Sans. Really kept your promise about not making me feel imprisoned, didn't you?_

"Frisky, please look at me? Let's talk, the two of us?"

Like she had a choice? She turned around, still red in the face.

"There you are." He tried to sound cheery. "Hey there. Little surprised?" He rubbed his skull and handed her the book Flowey gave him. "That. I didn't know that. Flowey just gave me that."

Frisky looked at it. A human and Skeleton Connection book. She didn't want to bother opening it.

"Really. I've been down what I thought was a mountain who knows how long. I know what Monsters know. I assumed I was the same. I _am_ a Monster. Guess, I, just assumed every one of us was the same." He was clicking his tongue at the top of his mouth again. "Sorry. Seeing each other naked was supposed to make this whole thing easier, and I think it just made it worse." He held his bony hands out. "Not that you had an awful body or anything, you really didn't at all!" He pulled his bony hands back like he made great big faux pas. "Not that that matters?" He closed his eye sockets. "Even when I figured it out, I was trying to ACT like it was just any other Monster I was seeing. But. Uh. That . . . human lust drive was hard to hide."

Human lust? Frisky opened the book this time and read the introduction. She picked it all up pretty fast there. The translation from human to Monster was pretty raw, but the basics were there. The Monsters who once long ago did love humans gave birth to the Monster race of Skeletons. And, Skeletons still had . . . _great, I knew it. He was completely aroused. It was just like undressing for a human._ Well, that was really small potatoes to the other thing though. "What about the other thing? Can it be extended or something?"

"King Asgore decides that. Three months is as far as I can push from him." Sans scratched his wrist bone lightly. "Anything else got pushed further down. I'm lucky I got back to three months."

Great. "Okay. What happens if we don't do anything?"

"Um. Well?" Sans gestured outward and inward. That wasn't good at all. "Then, King Asgore and Queen Toriel will assist to make sure we do."

 _What?!_ Losing it again. "No, no, no." Frisky shook her hands outward. "No way, I refuse."

"There's not really a choice in it. But, it won't be that bad." He was shaking his bony hand in his coat pocket, jingling wrappers again. "The more compatible, the better it is. I mean, usually it's supposed to be boring but it shouldn't hurt. Um, I uh. I did the hard part and manifested what mattered." He shrugged. "Don't worry, it shouldn't be too bad. Since it's usually kind of boring we can probably just get in a sex position and fall asleep. Wake up and see if you're done or not. That seems to be how a lot of Monsters do it."

Like a turkey? Nothing. He knew _nothing_. "Humans have different bodies," she said slowly.

"You're telling me." He covered the front of his skull a minute. "I didn't mean that in a bad way. Or a good way."

He was thinking about her body again, she could tell. Easily. "Sans, face up here."

He looked back at her face. "Hey. Uh. It's okay, I promise. The whole body thing? We can keep our clothes on, no biggie. We just have to slide off a section to fit."

The bodies. He really assumed being naked was the toughest part and the rest was just 'insert here'. "No way, you are nowhere close to getting this. Humans have completely different bodies."

"Oh? So, how do you have different bodies?"

"Too. Different," she said firmly. "Way too different to ever be compatible."

"Hmm?"

"There's . . . there's no way a human and a Monster are going to . . ."

"Oh." He said it so natural. "That's what you're worried about? Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"You're not getting it," Frisky tried again. "Humans are like a lock and a key. They fit. Human and Monsters aren't even a lock and a key. A Monster is a key that's been lost five years and the human is a lock rusted shut. They are just that different." Maybe that would get it through his thick skull. "Not. Compatible."

"Even if we weren't, we'd become. Magic."

"No, I refuse."

"Uh, no, you can't?"

"No, I refuse the notion that I can't refuse too. I refuse all of it!"

"Yeah. Uh." He scratched his skull. "You'll be fine?"

Okay, this wasn't working. Time for a new ACT. Lie. "It could kill me." Yeah, he wasn't buying that. "Done in the wrong way it could kill me."

"Not many ways to mess up, Frisky."

Yeah. Lie never worked on Sans. "Okay." There was only one ACT left. The embarrassing truth. "Do you know how if I eat the wrong thing, I could die down here? If I don't eat enough I could die? How being out in the weather for too long in the wrong temperatures can kill me? Well, humans are sensitive. In that area. _Especially_."

That seemed to have done something. "Sensitive?"

 _I can't believe I have to talk about this, but there's nothing down in the Underground._ "Your lust drive?" Using words he used. "Well, a woman has to have her own lust drive going. If not, it really hurts." _Please let that have been enough._

 _" . . ._ oh."

 _Win. No GOLD, but an important field conquered_ _. Whew!_

"Hang on." He held his hand out for the book and Frisky gave it to him. He started flipping through the pages. He was scanning and flipping through several pages. "I don't ever want to hurt you."

Of course.

"I'll figure something out. Even if I have to use the flower." Sans left the room with the book in hand. "Just, get some rest. But, don't worry." He closed one eye socket and winked at her. "I'm real good at solving puzzles."


	44. Sounds Kinda Nice

**Just a little key thing here, since we'll have people talking through a door and one thinking, so you don't get confused.**

Frisky: **_Frisky is italics and bolded._**

Friskay: _Friskay_ _is italics and underlined_

 _Sans: Just regular italics_

* * *

"Idiot."

Sans scratched the front of his skull as he read the book more and more. "That's more fleshy."

"Moron."

"That . . . sounds weird." Sans moved on into the pages, ignoring Flowey. He would figure it out on his own unless he really needed help. "Ouch. My bony fingers would need flesh to do _that_. This stuff is weird."

"Idiot. Moron. Come on!" Flowey pleaded. "You're doing it wrooooooooonnng."

Sans rubbed his eye socket. He could figure it out. There must be a solution. "Humans like that? That sounds awful."

"Smiley Trashbag! Okay! I _know_ I played with you too much with the coat thing, but you really need to listen. This isn't how you're going to get Faith. Frisky." Flowey groaned. "Listen!"

"Everything is so fleshy. Flesh, touch, skin." Sans leaned his skull back. "That's great, just great. Just throw one more thing on me." He closed the book. "Am I really down to _you_?"

"Finally! Now, you idiot, all you have. To. Do. Is go out!" Flowey shouted at him. "Go out. Go out to Waterfalls, go eat a burger, go do something away from everyone else. Away from your son. Away from your Brother. Just, go."

Sans shook his head. "What good is that going to do? I've got to figure out how to manifest completely. In the past?" He asked him. "Was I able to do it in the past?" Yeah, he knew that look. "I did. I could? How?"

"Smiley Trashbag, that's not the way to go," Flowey warned him. "Just, stop that thinking. I'll show you how to do it, but it's not gonna be for the purpose of Frisky."

"Flowey." This. Flower. This. Flower! "Look, okay? I know you like to make fun of me. Get involved in problems for fun. I get that. But." Sans pulled out his bony fingers. "I have a Balancer to worry about. I have a kid that is going to be changing into a Skeleton soon. I have to make a baby bones in three months, and I have to figure how to do it _without_ hurting Frisky. Not to mention, during all of this, I have way more hours of work, and I know that what's going on at the borders is going to make more Monsters leave! Abandon Snowdin! Okay? Get it yet?" He looked at each of his bony hands. "Life's _not_ on repeat. Far from it. Everything's changing and it's changing so fast! I can't keep up with it. A-A part of me, a tiny little part . . ." He closed his eye sockets. "It wishes I could just wake up right now by my post, having Papyrus come by and shout to be on the lookout for humans." He sighed and looked back toward the flower. Did it get it yet? "So, really. For once? Okay?" He pointed to the flower. "Tell me how to get a body."

Flowey sunk his petals down lower. "I can't yet. Sans the Skeleton, I'm _really_ not kidding this time. If I do, you won't use it right, you'll go straight to Frisky, which is the biggest no-no!"

"You're the one who said I couldn't just be a friend to her. That we couldn't just stay the same." Lying again? "Flowey. Stop being so complicated, and just _tell me_."

"How?" Flowey closed his own eyes. "You're just going to try and go for sex!"

"Do you know how hard it is to create a little Monster, just between Monsters?" Sans reminded him. "Look at Dogamy and Dogaressa, too. They've been trying for a puppy for a long time! I got three months." He held up three bony fingers. "Three." He shook his head. "I don't want my first time having a body be . . . like that. Especially now, knowing I'd have to hurt her."

"Hmmm." Flowey rotated his petally head. "If I tell you, you have to promise only to use it for fighting, and not to bother Frisky while you have the body."

What? "Then what's the point of it?"

"I was going to share it with you later because you'll _need_ that ability to beat the Balancer. But." Flowey shook his head. "Not for Frisky. And," he said confidently. "You _have_ to go on a date with Frisky. Forget everything you have going on. Forget all these huge problems and just enjoy a date with Frisky."

"Uuuhh?" Why? "I'm already married to Frisky. I already got a family." Sans shook his head. "I am tired of working backwards. Can't I just be real careful with her? I could try and be careful." Hmm. "I get really warm. Maybe if I just warm her up with my magic?"

"No." Flowey practically growled. "Stop that thinking. Yes, I know. She's your wife. Why bother going backwards? But, she's a human. It's _different_. You can't just go up there, put some warm magic on her and expect something. Now where are you going? Sans!"

Forget the flower. There was no way they were going to do this easily, but his magic was a good idea. That's what happened to him, he got warm and tingly. It wouldn't hurt to try. When he started to reach their door though, he heard conversation inside. _Oh great, it's_ _Friskay_ _. Is Frisky rebelling and bringing them all over now?_

 _"I told you._ _I told you. I told you. I t_ _old you."_

**_"_** ** _Uh_** ** _uh_** ** _. You aren't supposed to be here."_**

 _"Of course not,_ _a_ _nd apparently_ _Friskarino_ _was even banned, right? Great freedom you have, Frisky."_

_Oh. Shoot._ He did promise her he could come over. Flowey just made him suspect things.

 ** _"It is freedom. I am fine here_** ** _."_**

 _"Yeah. Right. I already heard from_ _Friskarino_ _._ _You're going to have to screw a Skeleton if you stay."_

**_"_** ** _Friskay_** ** _."_**

 _"Every night I bet too because he already has the gear I hear?_ _Stripteased_ _him?"_

_Striptease. When Frisky was naked in front of me? Is that what that was called?_

 _"You were tricked. He got what he needed, and he's going to keep doing it_ _._ _You're his wife now, Frisky. You don't get any say in anything. Forget the fact you just did it for Chance, you are his too. Mind and_ _body_ _."_

**_"Stop._** **_Friskay_** ** _. I miss when you were so much kinder than this."_**

 _"I just woke up to reality_ _._ _Life sucks and then you die. Except for you. You're stuck with a Skeleton and you'll just live centuries next to him, in his bed. You'll be touching bones every night for warmth, instead of flesh that a human woman should be touching."_

**_"I don't care about any of that_** ** _._** ** _Sans is a friend. He is Chance's father. I do not regret the choice I made."_**

 _"Funny. I never heard 'for richer, for poorer, I shall let this Monster screw me every night. And, you know what? You know why? Because it's nothing to Monsters. Have you done your research? It's boring. Sometimes hurting._ _But overall, not a big deal. Done to have kids."_

_It's not a real big deal. Not something you'd ever do with a Monster you weren't married with but._ He should have gone in. Stopped eavesdropping, but he couldn't help himself.

 ** _"Monsters are loving_** ** _."_**

 _"Uh huh. Because your little strip show was all about_ _love_ _."_

**_"He swears it was an accident, and I believe him."_**

 _"You mean you have to believe him._ _Frisky. You are stuck down here, okay? You want Sans to see his kid? Then he can see him. The soon to be Skeleton could even live with him, and you could see him. You could spend all day with each of them,_ _without_ _forcing yourself to be with a creepy little Monster! And you know that's what he is. No eyes, just eye sockets with weird lights coming from them._

_Huh?_

 _A mouth that never moves, just constantly grins. Grins whether it's happy, sad, or about to kill you._ _Is that really what you want to be with night after night? Because it is. That thing. It's not just going to lie by you and accept sweet little pecks on the cheek. Is it?"_

**_"_** ** _Don't say it like that."_**

 _"Just saying what you won't. Because it's the middle of the night and where is he?"_

**_"_ _. . . s_ _olving a puzzle."_ **

_"_ _And gee, I wonder what that puzzle could be? And, I wonder if he solves it, exactly how long it will be before he wants to try out the solution?_ _He could have thought about it in the morning. The afternoon. The next night before bed, he could have stopped to look at it. Instead, he's missing his precious sleep to solve it. Now. Why do you think that is?_

**_"He. Is. A. Friend_** ** _._** ** _You're trying to make him sound like he's some terrible_** ** _-_** ** _"_**

 _"Monster?_ _You don't have to put yourself through this. Open your eyes, Frisky. Open them to the truth. Even his friends are helping him out, according to_ _Friskarino_ _. Come on._ _You're not free anymore, and you need rescued."_

_She had better not try and take her._

 ** _"I am fine. I refuse to leave."_**

 _"Those Monsters said you've got three months to make a little Skeleton, right?_ _He knows it doesn't just happen. You know that our 'human sex' doesn't automatically equal baby. And you know he's trying to solve the puzzle so you can get this thing started. Tonight. Something so boring to him. Something . . . something a little less boring to us."_

Sans looked back at the book. _Is there more to this than just being sensitive, Frisky?_

 ** _"You really should just leave_** ** _._** ** _I am a Frisk just like you. I don't play damsel in distress_** ** _._** ** _My decision was for Chance to have his father, and for Sans to be there for his son. Considering everything else he had taken away, I never could have chose differently_** ** _. I will do what is necessary for their happiness."_**

 _"But what about your_ _happiness_ _?_ _Go to Conner."_

**_"Wha_** ** _t?_** ** _I am married to Sans the Skeleton."_**

 _"Which is an old outdated ceremony documental_ _marriage that is not even taken seriously in the real world anymore. It's not valid, and you know that."_

_Not even valid?_ Sans moved the book down to his side.

 ** _"It is in the Underground, and even if it wasn't, I am not changing my mind. I risked my life to try and get back. Why do you think I'd go_** ** _willingly_** ** _?_** **_My DETERMINATION is at it's maximum with you,_** ** _Friskay!_** ** _I miss you, but I miss who you used to be, not this."_**

 _"Alright, here then. You have two choices._ _Your creepy as hell husband is going to come through those doors_ _soon_ _. He'll be there with_ _his freaky little grinning mouth and horrifying little eye lights that look like they were plucked straight from hell. He'll come straight up to you and without even bothering to move his mouth he'll just utter through his teeth. "Found it, Frisky. Let's get started." You'll try and protest and he'll either lay you into a thick guilt trip or more than likely, just use his magic to stay like a good girl on his bed."_

**_"Get out! Teleport away from me_** ** _already_** ** _._** ** _Sans would never be that senseless or cruel."_**

 _"Or! You could leave Chance here, visit him everyday, but run away. Find the freedom_ _Toriel_ _found_ _._ _She doesn't have to suffer under_ _Asgore_ _, and he's the King! Because she ran away."_

**_"No. Get out."_**

 _"Frisky. Why can't you allow yourself any happiness? You are a prisoner here."_

**_"Get out. Get out now!"_**

* * *

Flowey heard the whole thing too, watching Sans trot slowly down the stairs. "Sans the Skeleton?"

"She's a prisoner." Sans trotted forward more. "I didn't want her to feel like a prisoner. I've done everything wrong." He laid the book down over on the table. "I thought I just had to worry about being a horrible dad, but I'm a _way_ more horrible husband."

"Hey, there, there. Fella." Flowey wasn't used to having to be so sympathetic. "It's okay."

"How is it okay?" Sans gestured to the book. "I don't have anything she would want. I'm just bones. With a freaky mouth, and eye lights that are just creepy. I'm just this creepy _thing_."

"Uuuhh . . ." What could Flowey say? He watched Sans sit down with his bony hands resting on his skull. The table was starting to get wet. "Manifesting tears? Not real happy, huh?" Crud. Big crud. "Come on, cheer up?"

"Cheer up? I _promised_ I wouldn't imprison her. Look what I did?" Sans rubbed his tears away. "Second day of marriage and look at how good I am at it."

"Hey, now." Flowey took a deep breath. "It's alright."

"I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to make her do anything she hates, or that hurts her."

"Then don't. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"King Asgore says three months."

"Unless you explain what is going on clearly."

"Are you kidding?" Sans just laid his skull on the table. " _Every_ time I tried to reason with him, I just made it worse. Because I joked with Toriel. But, after seeing Friskarino _actually_ being able to make Frisky laugh? _I get it_." He lifted his skull back up. "But I shouldn't because she's not mine. She's my wife, but . . . she's not mine. She's here for Chance. And I-"

"Need to work on making her _yours_?" Flowey said. "Maaaaaybe you should consider that date in Waterfalls I said to take?"

"Why?" Sans looked at his bony hands. "I'm just a creepy little eye socketed nothing."

"You're not, not to her." Flowey groaned. "Seriously, Sansy! What is it that you want?"

"I want Frisky to be happy."

"Then make Frisky happy." Flowey winked. "Go out. Tell some jokes. Remember who you are. Date. Date. Date."

"With everything happening? With Chance turning soon, the Balancer eventually finding his way in, me dealing with these human instincts that popped up? Just?"

"Date. And stop mentioning anything else. Don't get just a kiss on the cheek and pretend to be hunky dory friends for three months, but don't just rush it."

"This sex, to humans. It's more than just making a little babybones. What is it?" Sans asked. "How is it so different?"

"It just has a lot more meaning. Lot more. Like, a lot. Let's put it this way, Smiling Idiot. When she accepts it from you? Well then. You've really _earned_ your wife. She wouldn't be here just for Chance anymore. She'd be here for you too. And? She'd be happy. That's what you wanted right?"

"But. The resets. I know they've changed me. And. All that soldier training with her determination. I'm sure she's different too. I can't just assume this is it. That I can get her happiness with me. That timeline is gone, and it's never going to be remembered." Sans stood up from the table. "I'm a screw-up, but I _won't_ screw this up for her."

"See something brewing in there?" Flowey bopped his petals around. "Watcha have in mind?"

* * *

 _I should tell Papyrus. I should wake up and tell him. This could all be a screw-up._ He looked down toward the flower. _Flowey_ _thinks it's a good idea, but he's a pain too. What if he's lying again?_ Still, he knocked on his door briefly before opening it. He had to do this before he got cold feet.

He trotted into the room slowly. "Frisky?" Frisky looked over toward him from the side of the bed. "Okay." No. No, this was it. "I promised that I would do what I could to never make you feel owned, Frisky, and a promise is a promise. I won't ask for you to make any kind of babybones with me, until the day we absolutely have to."

"I don't . . . " She was twitchy about that. "Toriel and Asgore."

"Magic. _Their_ magic. I know humans are shy, and I'll convince them not to watch, but, that day . . . I'd at least have flesh body for you." She had a strange look on her face. "And, afterwards, if you don't want me to touch you ever again, then I won't. I'll figure something out. I'll break tradition and sleep with Papyrus and let you have this room with just you and Chance."

"Really?"

Sans nodded. "But . . . but . . ." _Papyrus! I'm about to do something really stupid! I need to talk to you!_ He tried to reach out with his magic toward his brother like he did at the wedding, but he was sleeping. _Pap, I need to know if this is right, please? Please?!_ His brother wasn't going to answer, too deep into sleep. _I should have woke him up, I should have asked._

"Stop taking so long, Smiley Trashbag! Make the full offer already! No wussying out!"

Sans was cornered. If he didn't finish it, Flowey would. He had to do it. Even without Papyrus' help. There was just no turning back. "We _should_ see if something could happen before then?" He asked. "If you are comfortable enough with me as a Monster?"

"Something could happen?" Frisky asked. "I don't understand."

"Marriage is forever, Frisky. As long as my life span is, so is yours. No matter what happens, it doesn't break. So. Be my wife, or friend for life?"

Frisky's eyes darted back and forth a little. "We don't have to do anything for three months, and then only once when you have an actual body?"

"Yep."

"Unless . . ."

"Well, cause, hey! We're already married. So? You know? I mean."

"Getting awkward, idiot, just shut up and let her answer!" Flowey yelled from downstairs again.

"Do you think . . . that's really possible?" She asked.

"I don't know," Sans admitted, "but centuries is a long time of not knowing . . . and there's no option otherwise so . . ."

"Oh. I see your point," Frisky agreed. "Okay. I will attempt to make more than a friendship connection with you, and if we have consummated this marriage before we are forced to, then we will keep things as they are. If we don't, then we shall have physical relations once with royalty present, and then become friends for life. Is this the promise we are making?"

His little soldier. "Yep."

"Okay. Then, how do we start?"

He sat on the bed next to her and moved her soft hair away from her cheek. Three months. He had three months to figure out how to make Frisky want him as a Monster. _How did_ _I. How did I ever make her love me like this before? No Chance. Nothing_ _ty_ _ing_ _her to me._ _How? I'm no one that cool. I'm just a lazy guy who tells jokes. Just, that's it. That's all I am. This is stupid, why am I even doing this?_ Then again, it was already like that. Frisky wasn't his. They shared a bed. She followed him at work. She kissed him on the cheek at night. That was it. They were still just friends.

Like Alphys. Like Undyne. _Nudge. Those two need a nudge._

Maybe all he and she needed was a nudge too? A nudge in the right direction? _If I still love her. If she still loves me? If somehow the whole different Underground didn't change the basics of how we felt? Maybe._ "Let's go to sleep, Frisky. It's been a tough day." She crawled in on her side, leaving him the side to roll out of. "Don't forget the goodnight kiss."

"On the cheekbone?"

No. He tipped her head gently toward his skull. "Open your mouth a little Frisky and close your eyes." She eyed him for a few seconds before she closed her eyes. He brought his mouth to hers, tasting her. There was so much love inside. So much. He had to believe that she wasn't actually filled with love. He was sensing theirs. Tasting theirs. Something he'd never remember, but hopefully, something he could get back.

He didn't hold her very long, just a few seconds. As much as he wanted to kiss her like at their wedding, it would make it harder for her to come to him. Small, but meaningful. And she picked it up.

"No more cheekbone kisses?" Frisky asked. "You are very dedicated to find out if we are compatible, aren't you?"

"Centuries are a long time to be alone. You're the only one I can ever have. So. Yeah." He tucked himself into the bed, and caused her to stir as he brought her over closer into his bony arms. "Waaaay too long to be alone, Frisky. So, please keep your own promise too?" He felt her nod beneath him.

If there was anything left, he'd find it. And if it was gone, then he'd let it go. He'd let her go.

Either way, he laid his skull on her hair, knowing right now. For that night. That week. And those months.

She was willing to try to be his.

* * *

 _Okay._ _Uhh_ _, at least I don't have to worry about anything for three months. But._ Could he feel her heart hammering? He couldn't, right, because he was just bones? Maybe? _Is Sans really doing this because he likes me, or because he doesn't want to be alone for centuries? I mean, I am human. Not exactly the most appealing to a Monster. But, I mean . . . I don't know. I mean, how could he? He hardly knows me. I'm not the Frisk he had known. A prisoner for awhile, and two_ _days of marriage with one that included me being naked. That could be it too? Maybe he's confusing lust with love?_

That could be confusing if he never felt it before. _I don't know._ _Chara_ _swore that I liked him though. But. I . . . don't really want to think about it right now. I've got three months to figure it out, and right now, I . . ._

She could just enjoy being in his arms. _Completely mental. I can't really be into a Monster, can I? The strong feelings I feel, it's always relief that I made peace with him. Really. Right?_ Her breath slowed down more as she closed her eyes. Sans didn't feel like just a random pile of bones. She could feel his coat moving up and down. He was already asleep. _I don't understand how Skeletons work at all. But, centuries living with Chance in a bedroom . . . no, Chance would grow. He'd probably eventually move away, wanting his own space. So would the second one we would make. So, I'd be alone in a room, in a house with two Skeleton friends. Never sharing love with anyone else._

She breathed deeper. _Or. I could keep sharing a room. Cuddle up in the snowy night. And love . . . a Monster._

And as much as she wanted to rebel at the strange concept, or as much as Friskay would have screamed at her for thinking it. Her mind gave her an instinctly odd response back before she could even reason with it. _Sounds_ _kinda_ _nice._


	45. 04823

"You whaaaat?!"

"Papyrus, calm down," Sans said holding out his arms. "Frisky's still asleep, I didn't want to wake her up."

"Well, you certainly felt like waking me up," Papyrus complained, folding his arms. "Hearing 'hey are you awake yet 'cuz I might have done something stupid' tends to wake a brother up." Papyrus marched back and forth across the floor. "Why, Sans? That was completely boneheaded!"

"It was right," Flowey stood up for him on the table. "It's one of the very few things he finally got right."

"You. You stay out of this." Papyrus shook his bony finger at Flowey. "You are probably the one responsible for putting that idea in his head. Frisky is his wife, for centuries."

"She still will be," Sans said, coming back over. "That can't change no matter what."

"You want her to switch rooms? Sleep with Chance, and just be friends with you? Sans, she is your wife."

"It's already like that now," Sans said. "Seriously. She is here for Chance, Pap. Not me. And, I don't even know if I want her here for me. You know?"

"But she was-"

"Forgotten timelines in a really different Underground," Sans said again. "I don't know how different I was. How different she was. You know? At least this way, I'll know."

"It took years for you to get together in another timeline," Papyrus said, pointing to the flower. "Years. So, how is this a good idea? They were supposed to grow to like each other. Right?"

Flowey just smiled. "Underground was different. If Sans does things right, and him and Faith are still meant to be, three months is plenty of time."

"But . . ." Papyrus threw his bony arms up in the air. "But why? Why three months?"

"So she doesn't . . ." Sans shuffled his slippered foot. "So she doesn't have to touch me as a Skeleton, unless she wants to."

"But . . . but it doesn't matter what-"

"That's Monster thinking. She's _not_ Monster, Papyrus," Sans said, stopping him. "I understand that now. Everything's different."

"So." Papyrus tossed his skull back and then forward again. "If she doesn't try and have a babybones with you before the royalty, you'll be a . . . a fleshy body for the first time . . . in front of the royal family . . . and you said you didn't like that idea."

"Frisky married me for Chance. For me not to lose _him_. She almost died to keep him here for _us_." He pulled himself up straighter again. "This is all I can do for what she did."

"This is all just!" Papyrus groaned. "Sans, this must be the most-"

"Genius thing he ever did," Flowey interrupted. "Hey, everybody!" He bopped his flowery head to the right. "Let's not forget that I'm the only one who knew how it used to be." He bopped his head to the left. "And I say, Smiley Trashbag finally did something right. Besides! They already play the friend game. So seriously, Brother of Smiling Idiot? Right now. For now. Not forever. But, for now? You are Brother of Smiling Not Idiot. And Sans just did a very brave thing, so a little bit of brotherly support instead of a flowery support is in order! Don't you think?"

"Well. Um." Papyrus looked toward Sans and then the flower. "I've been called out by a flower. That's new." He looked toward Sans. "Are you sure about this 'be my wife or friends for life' thing?"

"If Faith still belongs with him," Flowey said, "she'll get over the Monster thing. If she doesn't, then-"

"As her friend, I _couldn't_ make her do anything a human didn't like. Like, touch a Monster. With flesh, I should probably be a lot different. Way different. Afterwards, she probably wouldn't even see a connection."

"But-"

"It's done, Pap."

"But?" Papyrus marched some more against the ground but didn't say a word. "You've never even dated before, Sans. No one. You have no experience. Do you want to borrow my book?"

"No. Um. I think me and Frisky will just feel our way through it."

"Second time Smiley Trashbag said a smart thing!" Flowey shouted. Then he frowned. "I did not just say that."

"Heh." Sans shoved his hands in his coat and winked at him. "Thanks, Flowey."

"I still . . . well. I am your brother," Papyrus said slowly. "If this is what you want?"

"If we should be more, then we'll be more. If not." Sans shrugged. "Frisky makes a great friend." He sighed. "I know it sounds like gloom and doom, Papyrus, but really. You don't get it. I mean. We'll find where we belong and take it from there. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh. Okay. Okay!" Papyrus bucked up. "You're right, Sans. Follow your heart."

"Heh. Thanks, Brother." Sans gave him a bony thumbs up. "I have to get to work soon. I guess I better text Undyne and Alphys all the news. Get yelled at. And go on with life. Because we only get one, and it changes fast."

"Yes, okay, but?" Papyrus rubbed the back of his skull. "You do know there's like an itsy bitsy chance that this might fail, right?"

"Pap. Did you forget it's me?" Sans trotted away. "I figure it's the other way around."

* * *

 **At San's Work Post . . .**

Parents were weird. Chance built a snowball fort but glanced back toward his parents. Sans kept looking over at his mom every once in awhile, and then his mom would do the same thing. If they wanted to ask each other something, why didn't they just ask?

 _Okay. I made it through yesterday. Not sick. Doing good. I don't hear any wind in my ears and my vision isn't blue tinted in anyway. So, cool._ Oh, who was he kidding? He was dreading turning into a Skeleton! Conduits were so weird with everything, what would that transformation do to him? And seeing without eyes, and just little lights in eye sockets, or maybe no little lights at all. Just raw eye sockets? He was used to Sans and Papyrus, but to actually become a Skeleton like them?

 _I have to relax. Sans warned me that I have to relax. I can't get all determined and edgy. It'll be harder to get through it._ He poured more snow on top of his fort.

"Hey, my kid, don't play in that snow too much. Your fingers get red, it's over. Kay?" Sans said as he strolled over. "Tell me if you feel cold too."

 _Yeah, yeah._ Hopefully his fingers didn't turn red. He had gloves on after all. All kinds of winter wear. It was hard to even hunch over that day since the temperatures were colder. _I miss MK. Sans scared him away because I'm_ _his 'M_ _y_ _Kid'. Still, it's a lot better than it used to be. And, hopefully, it'll stay this way forever. Dad did marry mom. I mean, Sans did marry mom._ Maybe when he was nothing but bones, no one could jump in him too? Still, even saying that made him scared. Nothing but bones.

He watched Sans move over toward his mom. "Hey."

His mom fidgeted with her gloves. "Hey."

"Uh." Sans trotted around her from behind. "So, I need you to contact that Farrisk for me. I need to fight him."

Farrisk? Why did Sans want to fight him?

"Why?" His mom asked.

"Sparring partner. Farrisk made that comment that he wanted to fight me last time. Shouldn't be that hard, right?" Sans asked his mom.

"That was a joke," his mom said. "He couldn't survive long against you. No one can."

"Oh. Someone can."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it. I promise I won't hurt him."

"Okay." His mom pulled out her MP. "What time did you want to meet with him? Seven?"

"Uh, yeah. Um. Unless Chance hasn't changed. It should be real soon."

"Oh. Okay."

They were acting so weird that day. Chance picked up more of the snow but noticed that it looked a little blurry. And . . . blue. _Okay, first rule Sans gave me was calm down! So! I will calm down! I will, in just a bit. Second rule! Go see Sans or Papyrus!_ Chance took off in a heavy run to Sans, landing straight by his legs. "I see in bluish shades and some of it's kind of blurry!"

"Okay. Relax, My Kid." He picked him up and looked at him. Sans lights bounced all around the different corners in his eye sockets like he was trying to see something. "Do you remember everything we went over?" Chance shook his head. He couldn't think of anything right now! "Chill. It's okay, I'm here, My Kid. You'll be just fine."

That was easy for Sans to say, he'd been a Skeleton his whole life!

His mom came over to his side. "Are you alright, Chance?"

"I'm calm. I am calming down. I will eventually get to the calming down point?" Chance tried to loosen up, but he just couldn't. A Skeleton. He was going to be just bones and he was terrified!

"Hey, Papyrus," Sans said on his phone. "Chance is finally changing. I can probably handle it, but it'd be good to have you nearby, just in case."

"Just in case of what?! Sorry! I didn't mean to yell like I'm terrified!" Chance yelled, terrified. "I'm a Frisk and I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!"

Sans put his phone away and brought him in closer for a hug. Chance hugged him with all the strength he had. _I don't want to be a Skeleton! I'm scared. Seeing without seeing. Hearing without hearing._ "Whoah, easy there, that is some strength you got. Just relax. There's no way to stop this, so accept it and it'll be easier. Okay?"

"I know! Relaxing is part of the mission!" He was yelling again but he couldn't help it. He'd done all kinds of things before, but this was new. He wasn't trained for this. No one was trained for this. And, he couldn't ask his mom to take over for him either.

"It's okay." His mom stroked his hair. "I know that you're a brave Frisk. I know you're scared, but it's going to be okay. Have faith, okay?"

Sans glanced over at her for a second for some reason. He looked back toward him. "Any other vision changes?" Chance shrugged. Sans turned him around in his grasp. "What's ahead over there?"

"Snow."

"Good guess. How'd you come up with that one all by yourself?" Sans joked. "Anything else?"

"Snow and blurry greens." Chance closed his eyes. "I don't want to change!" He started to kick his feet.

"Easy there, Chance. Give being a Skeleton a **_Chance_**. Here you go, Frisky. I think he probably wants you right now."

Chance clung even tighter to his mom.

"Uh, Chance?" His mom sounded like she was struggling. "Not so hard at hugging, Sweetie."

Oh yeah. He loosened his grip. _I'm a Frisk. I'm a Frisk. I'm crying, aren't I?_ He wiped his tears away. He had to be brave and do this. That is what he did, he was a Frisk. Face any obstacle head on, but this was so different. After it was over, he would never be the same.

"Well, one good thing about turning into a Skeleton?" Sans commented. "It's a great way to get out of work. Hey, Undyne. My kid is changing now. Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay, if we can get off that subject 'cause My Kid is changing now? Uh huh. Ow. That's kind of harsh, isn't it? Yeah. Alphys would what? Geez. Yes, I get it. But, I need a day off. Chance is changing. Uh huh. Thanks, wish you similar luck in the lavas of Hotland too."

Weird call. It sounded like Undyne wasn't happy with Sans. Chance clung tighter as he felt a deep knotting ache in his tummy.

"Chance, momma can't handle that."

"I got him. His thinking is going to be out the window. Let's get him home in bed safely before any delusions start."

"I don't want delusions!"

"Hey, Chance, you'll be okay. Alright?" The voice was echoey though, like he was hearing it through a blizzard. Getting scared he opened his eyes.

* * *

No one was there. Just a blue and blurry blizzard all around him. Whistling winds. "Momma?" No answer. "Sans?" No answer. No, no. Sans could answer. He had magic. "Sans, is this the normal delusions thing that was normal?" No answer. "You said I'd still be able to hear you through them though?" No answer. "Sans, I'm scared!"

"Grab 95451."

Chance saw himself in his cell with his mom. The soldiers who showed up to correct his behavior were there. "Momma?"

"It's alright, hon'. Momma has you," she said, holding him tighter.

 _Delusions. Delusions. Sans said there would be delusions, and I would be okay._ Chance focused for the focal point he was supposed to find to escape the delusions. It would be a brighter area than the dim blue all around him. He saw no brighter area at all. _It must be past the soldiers._ Brave, be brave. They weren't real, no matter how much it seemed like it had been.

"95451 is coming with us. He will be returned after this is over for you."

"I said no!" His mother shouted as the soldiers tried to reach him. "I am 95452 and I have the DETERMINATION to stop you."

"Now, now. That's no way to act in front of our boy."

"Huh?" Chance looked behind him. That wasn't Sans. Who was he? He was a human. "Who are you?"

"It's okay, 95451. You're just turning into a Skeleton. Perfectly normal thing for a little Monster." He pulled him out of his mom's grasp. "And you know what? This is all just delusion." He waved his hands and everything disappeared. Through the glaze of blue though, a strike of red was showing. "Except me. You probably don't recognize me? You were so young when I claimed you and your mom as mine. I made sure you got to stay with her. That you grew up with her love so that you didn't change into a re-reset at all." He pulled Chance against his chest. "I was your dad. I did my best for you. And how does your mom repay me? By locking herself in with that Sans the Skeleton!"

Delusion. Delusion. Delusion. "You're just a delusion!"

"Wrong. I am 04823. And if he thinks he can claim you away? Well then, he's just going to have to be man enough to come in here and get you. Because I'm not letting you hit that bright circle. I'm not letting you escape this body. You'll die and whither away because of your precious daddy, Sans the Skeleton."

Delusion. Delusion. Delusion. "You can't hurt me, you're just a delusion!" Chance said defiantly again. "You're in my head. You're just much more vicious."

"Believe what you want. Because your Aunt Chara can physically keep my body out, but she can't keep my magic from gripping in. And while I can't do much so far away? Well, a little boy changing into a Skeleton leaves a big hole to work with. So don't worry."

He felt 04823 walking away with him. "This is in my head. This is in my head. This is in my head. Where are we going?"

"Oh, just for a pleasant walk around the ship," 04823 said casually. "You may have to die naturally, but I'll hold you in my care still. So calm your breathing down. I'm not going to hurt you. You will leave this world. Calm and natural. And maybe when the source of your mommy's determination is gone she'll stop defying me and we can move on. Hey, Chance? What do you think would be a good name for a little brother or sister?"

"I don't know." This delusion was really strong. "You can't hurt me, this is just in my head."

"Absolutely. I could never hurt you. You used to be part of my family before Sans claimed you back again. Which. Doesn't leave me in a good mood. Do you know how much your daddy messed everything up?" Chance could feel them continue to walk, but 04823 placed him on his shoulder. "The Monsters were the last of a pure breed. Now there are just monsters and humans. Even now, Monsters are leaving the Underground more and more, making lives outside of the barrier. Some will stay, and some will go. But, the Underground habitat is destroyed forever. Even if we pulled the barrier away, Balancers, humans and Monsters are all mingled together. The chance to keep it pure is gone forever."

"Things have to move on," Chance said. "You can't just lock something away."

"That's right, you can't. Everything always finds a way. Too bad your mommy didn't remember that advice. Then again, she never does." He stroked Chance's head tenderly. "Too bad, but you're right. You can't just lock something away. Something always finds a way back in. Doesn't it?"

He started walking away again, stroking Chance's hair. Even though the delusion was in the shape of a human it was strong. Real strong. He tried to kick away and struggle, but it was like his body couldn't move.

"It's okay. Sssh. Everything will be fine. There's nothing kinder than a natural kind of death. But, I'll tell you what? I'll let you do one great thing before you die. You can pick your next sibling's name. How about that?"

So powerful. Too powerful. Too powerful. "Something's wrong! Something is really wrong, this isn't a delusion!"

"That's a real long name for a sibling," 04823 chuckled. "Let's shorten that to Reality. What a pretty name."

Chance didn't know what else to say. How to move. Until he finally heard something.

"Please!"

Sans' voice?

* * *

"Did he bottom out?" Papyrus asked. He pulled his hands away. "I don't understand this."

"He was speaking for awhile, then it just quit." Sans touched Chance's head. _Come on, Kid, really? Where are you? You can't bottom out. You are really ready this time._

"You are sure he was seeing in blue?"

"Yep."

"And his vision was blurry?"

"Yeah, Bro. I know he was ready." Sans laid his bony finger on Chance's pulse. "I don't feel anything. I was hoping I could get Frisky some good news."

"This doesn't make sense. We drilled the basics into him," Papyrus scoffed. "Ignore any delusions he sees and run toward the bright circle. He'd start to sense us. What's going on?"

"I don't know." The flower had nothing to contribute. Sans had already tried to hold him with Frisky but it did no good. "Alright, give it more juice. Dial up slowly with me, okay?" They both laid their hands on Chance in the bed. _Come on, where are you? You aren't bottoming out this time. Why aren't you answering, kid? A squeal? A yelp? There's no reason you shouldn't be able to have a decent conversation with us. Come on!_

 _"_ Sans, we are going to blow a hole off the door again. We need a place that can contain the degree of magic needed for this," Papyrus said.

"Yeah. I know." Sans let go and looked out the door. "We're going someplace."

"What's going on?" Frisky asked. "You said this shouldn't be too hard."

"I know. He is a conduit. Me and Pap are taking him to Judgment Hall. It's the best place to withstand heavy magic without damage. It'll be okay, don't worry." He gave her a confident thumbs up. "He'll be okay, Frisky. We'll be back before you know it."

* * *

The usual bright colors of Judgment Hall only held small hints of orange with blue dominating it.

"I don't get it, he needs to come out!" Papyrus shouted. "Hellooo! Why won't you come out?!"

Sans was putting everything he had into it now. Chance's body was already gone. Physically seen but it was dead. It couldn't function anymore. He had to pull out of it. "He should have been scared, I know that, but this is not right! He should be able to hear us, Pap!" The roaring magic within Judgment Hall was so great, yet, not even a sound. _Come on, come on! This is such a simple process, My Kid! Run to the light and we'll guide you, come on!_ He warned him the delusions would be tough. He warned him the worst parts of his memory could be used to scare him, but just get past it and the light would be there.

"Sans! Maybe . . maybe being a conduit was just too different?" Papyrus said.

 _No! No, no, no! I don't care if it's different or tougher, you need to break out and come to us! Chance, your family is right here. Come on, my kid, please. Please!_

 ** _Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaans_** ** _!_** Chance's voice was terrified. **_I can't escape, it's holding me too tight! I can't move!_**

 _It's an illusion, my kid, an illusion! If you don't break free, you're going to die and there are no resets! Break free from it!_

 ** _But I can't, and it's no good, Sans! He's not like the other soldiers that were here. He wiped away the illusions, everything but the ship! He's only a human but he's so strong!_**

 _Illusion, Chance, I swear. You have the power to take him out!_

 ** _You don't get it, you don't get it! No, let me go! Let me go! No, no, no . . ._** ** _Daaaaaaaaaaaaddyyyyyy_ ****_! 04823 is going to kill me!_**


	46. A Second Chance

Never. Frisky kept that number deep inside. It took the Soul bearing to get that number out. Chance would have never known it. _How?_

 _Oh, well, shoot. I was hoping that this looked like an accident. Oh well. I guess you do have decent magic if you could reach him to talk to him. But, that's not happening for much longer. So, say your goodbyes._

 _How are you actually inside Chance? That's not possible!_

 _Hm. Not happy to hear from me? Yeah? Well, I'm not happy to hear from you. You stole my claim._

_They were mine, and they are mine._

 _Not this one, not much longer._

_No,_ _nuh_ _uh. A Skeleton can't be inside another Skeleton._

 _He's a conduit. Anything's possible. Now if you don't mind? I'm trying to calm the boy so he goes into the sweet grasp of death easier instead of shouting. His sweet soul should have some comfort. Innocent_ _bystandard_ _in this claiming feud. Least I can do._ _You though?_ _When I get my hands on you, there isn't going to be a piece left._

_Likewise. **Buddy.**_ "Papyrus?"

"I don't know, Sans," Papyrus answered back. "I've never heard of intruding on the actual _mind_. Is it a Balancer thing? Oh. I'm . . . I'm sorry, Sans."

 _Amateur. Touch the conduit's eye._

* * *

 **Chance's Mind . . .**

Chance continued to struggle. He didn't want to die, but he couldn't break free. No matter how much he kept telling himself it was an illusion. Then, he felt a familiar power behind him. He turned around in 04823's arms.

Sans, but not. He looked like the night he did when Papyrus shoved him at him.

"Ah, ah. Too much emotion and the conduit will simply expire. Leave your deepest seeded hate behind the door, or he's already dead. Besides, we can't kill each other anymore than the Frisks could." 04823 patted his head gently. "Let nature take him. It's kinder on a Monster."

Sans approached slowly. He looked like he was struggling to even speak.

"Don't trust yourself not to yell? I don't blame you," 04823 said. "Quiet rage. It's not easy. You should be trained to be in a conduit. But, well, he's going to die anyhow, so why not meet face to face?"

* * *

Skeletons were intelligent. This wasn't intelligent, what he was doing. It had a body, just like a human. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Suit. Looked like a real pathetic human, but Sans knew it wasn't. He couldn't linger long inside of the illusion than needed. He tried to concentrate on different solutions because it was all he could do with the rage he did feel inside. _What am I missing? He invited me inside. There's nothing here though, nothing more than my magic presence projecting an image. Wait . . ._ it was slight. Heavy magic was on top of Chance because of Sans and Papyrus trying to help, but underneath that . . . _he is reaching with magic. Just like me._

He was still trapped outside the barrier, but he was reaching inside with his magic. He was tough. But even if he was stronger, Sans wouldn't back down.

He was good though, real good. Even Sans being called there, it was just part of the massive delusion he was making!

" . . . Chance." Sans finally spoke. "Light is behind me. Go for it."

"I can't move, Sans," Chance tried to say. He barely could muster enough strength to talk.

"You can. It's a trick. He's just projecting an image of himself. He isn't here, any more than me." Sans just stared at 04823. Really hard. "If he was. We. Would not be talking. Chance. Souls don't actually touch you to enter. How could me touching your eye, mean I'm suddenly here?"

"Oh, you clever little bastard," 04823 growled.

"Oh. You're right." Chance tried to push again. "Just an illusion. But there's so much pressure."

"Just a little umph he put on your physical body. He can't do much more, he's trapped outside the barrier. The rest is me and Papyrus trying to save you." Sans power around him went out and his eye sockets simply went black. "He was tricking us into almost killing you."

"Illusion or not." 04823 tightened his grip. "Even from behind the barrier, I can control. I might as well be real."

Sans moved closer. "A little magic pressure on your body, _M_ y _Kid_. That's all he can do. The rest you feel is safe. Move against it."

04823 moved closer and bent down towards Sans. "Even in an illusion, I can see fire burning in your eyes for me. The feeling is mutual. I will tear you limb from limb when we meet for all your crimes!"

Even though the lights were gone from Sans eyes, Chance could still see the ferocity as Sans met him forehead to skull. If they were real, they would have been tearing each other apart.

 _Illusion. Illusion. Illusion._ While 04823 was talking down to Sans, Chance could feel the weakness. His attention on Sans was changing the direction of the strength. At least to his head. Either way, Chance took the chance. He kicked his feet unexpectedly while he was crouching down to see Sans. He hit the floor and rolled before 04823 could regrab him. He ran behind the illusion of Sans as fast as he could. "The light!" He reached out for it.

Sans. 04823. The ship. Everything was gone.

"There's nothing here." Chance walked around a little until his whole body went numb. _I'm tired. I'm_ _sooo_ _tired._ "I'm so cold." Chance curled up on the ground, his eyes were too tired to stay open, but it was so cold. He was starting to shiver. "I'm so, so cold." He looked at his fingers. They were turning really red. Chance tried to cover his shoulders. He was so cold. He couldn't feel anything except the cold. "It's so cold." Chance looked at his hands again. They were all bluish now. He moved them slowly. It felt weird, like moving his hands through water. "Cold. Tired . . ." Then, he didn't feel so cold. Just tired. Just really, really tired . . .

* * *

 **Judgment Hall . . .**

"Whoah."

"Whoah!"

"Uuhh . . ."

"Oh, oh, look! Wowie, Sans, look! He's . . . a babybones? He's brand new!"

"Y-yeah . . ."

"Look, he's moving his little bony fingers," Papyrus said as he saw the tiny little arms beneath the blanket. "He didn't just turn into a Skeleton, he was _reborn_ into one!"

Sans nodded but sat on the ground with Chance. Covered in a blanket to try and soothe the transition, he rocked him back and forth. "Almost. Almost lost him."

"I know. He's okay, though."

"Not just to another world. I mean, completely. I almost fell for that trick, I almost got him killed." Sans lifted the blanket again to look at his little skull. He watched the bony fingers flinch again. Sans touched them with his own. "He is a newborn babybones, this is crazy. Ooh, he's real tender. Tiny too."

"He's real cute. We'll have to take lots of pictures! I will text Undyne to get him classified as an actual Monster resident. Say Cheesey bones." He snapped a picture and sent it to her.

"Yep. Heh. He . . . looks a lot like me now." Sans looked at his jaw. "Poor kid even got my teeth. Was hoping he'd get yours."

"Nah, I think he's cuter with yours," Papyrus insisted. He checked his phone. "Undyne texted that she will do that but Alphys, Undyne, and Toriel all want to come over to confirm it. More like they just want to see it for themselves." He checked it again. "Undyne said if he's _really_ classified as a newborn, King Asgore won't make you have another for six years. Well, he clearly qualifies." Papyrus stood back up. "Sans. Everything just got better!"

"Yeah." Sans chuckled. "Yeah. I've kind of been waiting for that."

"I'll go tell Frisky he is fine now if you want me to? You can spend some time alone to adjust."

"Yeah, good idea." Sans didn't want to leave Chance's side. "Heh. Got more than a couple finger bones there. When you going to move something else?" He leaned his skull back and looked up. He was right below the Judgment Hall window. "Just another crazy time in this kooky place." He looked back down and saw Chance jerk his bony hand.

He brought him in closer for a hug. Being there, watching his son go through such a huge milestone. He couldn't be there for his first steps, his first time talking, or anything else. But, this was his second chance with Chance. He'd have to learn how to walk. How to talk. How to relearn everything as a Skeleton. And. And. "My kid. My, my, my, my, _my_ kid!" He hugged him tighter. "I'll be there for everything. You'll see." He warmed up the blanket even more for him.

No matter what happened with Frisky, one thing would remain. His kid was _his_ kid and nothing would ever change that. He slowly stood up with him. "I'll show you how you balance on your feet just right so you don't fall when you're past crawling. I'll teach you how to see way further than any human could. I'll show you how to conjure different things. Usually bones are the easiest since we have a connection to them. My kid, I'll show you all kinds of things. Life will never be the same for you, it'll be better. So much better."

And that Balancer X. That 04823. He'd never touch him. That was his only weak chance, and it was clear his butt was stuck behind that barrier _good_ to try that desperate of a move. Chara must have had him on a real tight leash! No. No, by the time he tried to come, he'd be ready. He'd be _more_ than ready.

He could feel power practically throbbing inside. "I almost feel human with this much determination inside of me," he laughed. "No way. Nuh uh!" Laughing, he was laughing. Actually laughing.

Holding Chance the way he should have, and the way it should have been. Not having to make Frisky go through anything she wasn't ready for. "I don't have lungs, but I swear if I did, I'd be breathing some relief. I haven't felt this great in a long time!" He hummed as he walked. "Oh yeah, duh. Let's take that shortcut. I bet the Underground is ready to see you now."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' Home . . .**

Frisky watched the whole gang crowding around Chance. And she realized . . . she hadn't prepared enough determination for the moment. She didn't mind that her son wasn't human. He might even be safer the way he was, but nobody bothered to mention it wouldn't just be a change. It wasn't like snapping fingers and Chance was walking and talking like a Skeleton.

He couldn't walk. He couldn't talk. He couldn't see. Everyone that seemed to see him acted like he was a brand new . . . newborn. _The Chance I know is gone. This is past the infantile stage of FRISK. Being reborn into a Monster literally meant . . . being reborn._

It had to happen. She understood that. But, could no one have bothered telling her anything? All those years with her son, just gone! Wiped out like they didn't exist. His years of training. His time as FRISK. All the times they shared. Everything that made Chance, Frisk.

The only good thing about it all, was that Sans had finally bonded with him. He barely even let Papyrus touch him. Apparently, Chance's bones were extremely fragile, even more fragile than human bones until he matured a little more.

In fact, everyone seemed a bit surprised by how much he looked like a brand new newborn Monster. It was clear as day. But her determination hit it's limit when she heard Toriel speak.

"Oh, he's so cute. He really _is_ a brand new little Monster. I think Asgore would count it, Sans, you should ask. He will take just as much work to raise now."

"He should, we are just waiting for his okay from Undyne!" Papyrus pointed out. "Technically, the six years of being a strange human has _clearly_ been erased, so maybe it will?"

Boom.

Limit.

Hit.

* * *

"Hey, he's getting good with his right hand. Now only one thing **left** ," Sans joked. " **Right,** Papyrus?" It was like time had ticked backward. Had given him a second chance. His heart was beating, and he could believe he manifested it alright. Tiny and frail, like he'd just been born. Chance's bones weren't even strong enough to beat a two-month-old's yet.

But, then Sans heard it. He had been so consumed with Chance's transformation, he almost forgot.

"Got it!" Undyne answered joyfully. "I got the official word from Asgore. He said you don't have to have another one for six years."

Everyone was saying it. Everyone was thinking it. Everyone knew it. But, so did she. "Hey, The Great Uncle Papyrus? Here, be _real_ careful." He handed him to his brother. "No, no, watch the fibula. Really, he's like fragile. Okay? I have to go. Don't let _anyone_ else hold him. I'll be right back."

"Go?" Papyrus asked confused. "Why? For what?" Sans headed upstairs, still hearing his brother asking. He went into his and Frisky's room.

Yep.

Gone.

"Watching the kid you raised for six years suddenly become reborn can take it's toll on you," Flowey said from his corner. After the support that morning, Sans had moved him into his room away from the cold downstairs. At least for now. "Not your fault, Sansy. Nobody knows how a conduit reacts to things. That's why Chance was so scared. They never react normally." His petals drooped. "This is bad. I _feel_ again. I feel for her."

"Great. She bailed before I could even talk to her." Sans looked out the window. "Probably with the Frisks again."

"No. It's _not_ a workable problem with various solutions and strategies, Sansy," Flowey said. "It's emotional. She won't be with the Frisks."

"Where will she be then?"

"Waterfall."

* * *

 **Waterfall . . .**

Frisky walked slowly along the edges. One of the good things about being trapped in the illusion of a mountain? The echo flowers glowed even more beautiful. "Complete reset. Complete windwipe. Just without me." She gulped. "Life was horrid, but still, it was life. All those years, _gone_." She placed her hands beneath her. "Chance is getting his second Chance at a much happier life. No one jumping in him, taking control. No one committing murder with him. So, I should be happy." She sighed. "I should be happy." She continued to walk. "Happy, happy, happy. Heh." She moved across a small bridge and looked down seeing her reflection.

Hers. She always saw FRISK whenever she actually risked opening her eyes there. It was her though. Part happy. Part sad. "Mindwipes are new beginnings. It's just that, I was tired of new beginnings." She continued to walk again. "Then again, there will be no more horrifying nightmares. He went through soooo much. But now." She shook her head. "No, I won't be selfish. I still have FRISK . . . I still have . . ." She thumbed through her fingers. "PATIENCE and JUSTICE are dead or mentally gone. KINDNESS has become so incredibly mean only getting worse over time. I helped to kill PERSEVERANCE." She looked at her fingers. "BRAVERY, INTEGRITY and DETERMINATION. Three. Only three of us left. And we'll all eventually die. Somehow. Down in the Underground."

* * *

Uh uh. Sans knew that Frisky was probably having a tough time with the transition, but she'd regret it later not being there on Chance's new birthday. He'd talk to her a bit about it, make her feel better, and get back. Chance was downright brittle and he didn't want anyone to mess with him.

While he moved though, he was catching bits of Frisky's conversation. He could tell she was having trouble adjusting to everything too. More than just Chance's new change. It'd been a bit since he followed behind a Frisk, far enough that they didn't catch him, but close enough to see and hear what was going on.

* * *

She stopped to pick a small echo flower and hummed into it. "There's no place for humanity. There's no place for FRISK. Except here."

Down in this corner, she never talked or spoke. She just moved. Words of even past resets resided within the simple power of the echo flowers. It took too much to keep messing with each flower. They were like recorders, and although they had erased them several times, there wasn't a real potential need to do it.

She leaned toward her left toward a huge echo flower.

"You are a dumb blue flower and I am bored." Frisky smiled. KINDNESS. She moved closer to another flower. "FRISK is how you spell badass people!" She chuckled softly. BRAVERY. "So, what exactly are you made of? Because you smell so good, I would imagine you would make Toriel some good pie. Pie, pie, pie!" Frisky spun around. PATIENCE. "Hello, yo, if you say so ya ho. Ooh, naughty flower!" INTEGRITY. "Oh geez, not these damn blue flowers again." PERSEVERANCE. "You've got the dreamer's disease!" HONEST. Right before she completely cracked. The first one to crack. And then, hers. "I have the DETERMINATION to get through this. With a little faith, I can always make it."

"Lost another Frisk, huh, Faith?"

Frisky turned around and saw Sans. "I just left for a little while. I planned on coming back." Sans neared the flowers himself.

"Sure were a lot of parts to Frisk. As sucky as life was, they probably made it tolerable." Sans gestured to one of the flowers. "Except that guy. Could have done without him. Had too much of a **_bone_** to pick with him."

"I just needed some time alone," Frisky said.

"Mmmm . . . nope." Sans approached her. "Come home."

"Did you know . . . that he would do that?" She had to ask.

"Nope! Shocking actually, huh? Heh." He plucked a little echo flower. "It's one mindwipe I don't **mind**. He gets a whole new beginning."

Did . . . he even understand how much he was making her mad with those words? "Yes. Life was horrible, but, it was still life. He was growing fine. Making memories."

"Life is always life, no matter what you do or remember." He twirled the echo flower. "Or who you lose. I'm not the only one with the reset homesick blues, am I?"

"I never said I wanted a reset."

"But you do. At times, I do too. Because let's face it, life has been tough. Like rugged tough. Like a Glamburger after 10:00 on a Saturday night tough."

Frisky involuntarily made a face. "That was never the time to order."

"Nope, but maybe it's time you put an out of order sign on yourself too."

Ooohh . . . "Pardon?"

"Sorry ** _. Tibia_** honest, I haven't been all that honest. I never am. I have a **_Skele_** ** _-ton_** of issues with stuff." He winked his eye socket at her. "Bone jokes are coming back in style. Don't worry, they'll probably be gone by to- ** _marrow_**."

Now. Now was not the time for that. She was upset with him. Completely upset. She wanted to be alone. She leaned up against the wall, just about ready to tell him what she thought of everything when-

She farted. Well, not her. She looked up against herself. She had a small whoopee cushion tucked in her pants. _How did he?_

"If someone farts on an echo flower and it echoes back is it an echo flarter?"

No.

She was mad.

She was not happy.

She was cracking up, laughing harder than she had for a long, long time. "You are such a jerk!" She laughed as she pushed him. "I was _trying_ to be mad!"

* * *

No way. If he didn't see it, he couldn't have believed it. Frisky. Dedicated. Determined. Faithful. Miss Dodgy dodge. Do the right thing. _Holy moly. She. Liked. My fart jokes?_ No Monster girl liked fart jokes. A lot of them might giggle or smile in a social setting with a pun or two of his, occasionally a knock-knock joke, but even they rarely fell for fart jokes. "Oh, so, the great and powerful Frisky does have a weakness?" Sans moved behind her. "You know, most girls don't like farting. No wonder it took so long to find what makes you really laugh."

"Look. Chance was just reborn. Okay? I have six years of time that he'll never remember," she said, trying to get back into her sour mood.

"But, he'll get six _new_ years of time. Hey, I didn't ask for it. You didn't. He didn't. We never ask for anything. Life just always happens to us in the craziest ways." He wrapped his bony arm around her and turned her around.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Frisky said. This was really unlike him.

"Chance is brand new so _we_ don't have to have a kid for six years! Crazy, huh?" He did it once. He really wanted to do it again. Frisky's laugh, her real laugh when she was incredibly happy was soo cool. Not like a big guffaw, but not microscopic. It was a nice, pleasurable laugh that tingled the sense, almost like a human's singing, but in a good way this time. A real good way, and it ended with a small snort that someone would have missed if they hadn't listened well enough.

"Six years. That sounds fine," Frisky said. "The Underground should be fully integrated by then and technology should move in. Simple impregnation. If the laws haven't changed by then."

" . . . yeah." Friends. That was good. Except, now. Sans pulled out a bottle of ketchup and chugged it down. He just figured out part of the connection they used to have. So. "Or not. Like I said before, centuries is a long time. We could probably at least try a date."

She was doing that cute thing with her eyes, darting them back and forth. Analyzing. Kind of useless.

"Having a brain fart there?"

She glowed bright red, giggled before she tried to hide it and pushed him again. "Quit that. I am trying to reason things out here."

"Oh, Pardon. Please, continue." Gaw. Ah. This was fun.

"Thank you. Okay."

"Dokay."

Her eyes lifted strangely. Half in shame, half in finding even that tiny bit funny. "Stop that."

"Huh?" Sans shrugged. "No idea what you're talking about."

"I'm. I'm trying to think."

"Which so far **_stinks_**."

"I am getting very frustrated." Frisky took several steps back. "Jokes are for when an ACT needs to involve them, or they are for others to openly start conversations. Or, to distract a conduit and make them feel better."

 _Got it. Got it. Got it!_ Sans started walking forward. That was it. That was what that weird half grin was whenever he made a joke. Her world sucked, really sucked. Flowey was right about that. Anybody could see that. A lot of humor was lost in her world. So much so that . . . she felt a little shameful about even _wanting_ to laugh or enjoy it if it wasn't called for.

Heh. The fart was a gateway joke. And now, he was making her crack.

"What are you doing?" Frisky questioned him as she continued to walk backward.

"You're a girl who likes farts. That's incredibly rare in Monster or human. This might work."

Frisky could feel herself blushing. "I never said I liked farts."

Then something else hit him. Something that he hadn't thought about in a long, long time. It was towards the beginning of when he started to remember the resets. "In fact, you know? There was this paper I found in my room once. Just once.-" _Her face. Dead Giveaway._ "-and I couldn't figure out where it came from. It was hiding in my dresser, and I never understood it. Almost forgot all about it." She was looking toward her left and right, trying to escape clearly. Too late though.

He'd put it together. "It said 'Had a good time, My Legendary Fart Master'."

Yeah, he could tell. She knew she was doomed. "Friskarino, that little double-crossing-"

"Hey, so it was you?" Knew it. This . . . this whole strange marriage thing with Frisky. It was starting to get a little closer to making sense now.

" . . . I didn't put the letter in there. Um. I . . . " She sighed. "I wrote it, though."

"Come on, tell me the truth." He looped his arm around her neck. "Silly human girl. I liked that name so much I made it my-"

"I know, I know. I've been through it enough times." She could not even bear to look at him. Yet.

"Come onnnn, Frisky." Sans took his hands away from her neck. "How'd I get it? Really? I've been dying to know."

Frisky took a deep breath as she began to walk. She had no choice now. "It was a combination of things. For one, if you look at the label on your whoopie cushions closely, you'll see they are made by the Master of Disaster Co." She coughed slightly. "The first time around, things were a little different. I had met you at least five times before MTT's. Instead of pulling a Whoopie cushion at Grillby's, you did it at MTT's." She was pausing and stalling.

"Come on, I'm listening." He got closer to her. "So what happened?"

"I was in the middle of ordering a Legendary Hero but before I said hero, I sat down on your whoopie cushion. Then I just said fart lightly and read the name of the company." She couldn't help a small giggle she tried to cover up. "You repeated it and cracked up laughing, saying drop the 'of disaster' and it was perfect. Complete mix-up. Coincidental."

* * *

He was quiet. Why was he quiet? What was he doing? She turned around and felt herself getting dipped.

"Aww, you always _knew_ my loving name, didn't you?"

 _No!_ "No."

"Yep." He pulled her back up. "You're my Faith, and I am your . . . Legendary Fart Master."

Why was he being so . . . "Sans." It was like all the troubles he'd been facing just melted off of him. Like he hadn't been through the resets. Like FRISK hadn't made him miserable time after time. "When you don't have enough problems to melt the surface of the world, you're different."

He shrugged. "Maybe? I don't like much stress. I'd rather be lazy." And that wasn't true. He still had problems. He now had a brand new babybones to take care of. He still had to train to figure out the Balancer. But, now he had a new _excellent_ problem.

One that he was putting on himself. Forgotten timeline? Forget it, he already figured it out.

He never had to have another problem with Frisky again. He could have raised Chance with her and Papyrus and treated her like a sister. He could have. He'd never have to bother her again in more than a friend capacity. She was probably right about technology too. Even now, he could feel how much the Underground was changing. He could have a kid in the future without ever needing to touch her. Plain. Simple. All problems solved.

But. "Yeah. No."

Frisky gave him an awkwardly raised eyebrow. "What? Yeah. No. What?"

"Nnnope."

"Nope what?"

"So we work a little backwards. I guess that's okay. As long as you get to Point D, it's all that matters." He shoved his bony hands in his coats. _Maybe I am a freaky little thing that never opens it's mouth to talk and has eye lights from hell to the humans. Maybe right now being a sack of bones leaves me_ _so far off the charts she wouldn't find me anything more than a friend. But, I can see it now. Her eyes are getting clearer . . ._ "Centuries are still a long time to be lonely, and promises are promises."

"Wait." Her head popped up slightly. "But, that was because of the whole sex and flesh thing. Right? We're fine now? You were going to commit as a brother anyhow, so . . ."

Not. Anymore. "Come on, I know someone must be begging to hold Chance by now. Let's go home, Faith."

"Wait." Frisky gestured to herself and walked backwards as he approached her again. "I don't get what's going on."

"I like you, human."

"Well, I like you too?" Frisky said wearily.

"Nah, nah. Drop it, I really like you, human. And I don't want to live for centuries with you as a roommate."

"Ummm . . ." Married. For Chance. Figuring out the baby thing. For Chance. This. Wasn't. Making sense.

"Yeah, I get it. I read enough to know humans can't stand Monsters. I know that one, especially like me, isn't on your hot list. There's not one thing I can do to manually turn you on."

Did he have to say it like that?

"But never say never, Faith."

Okay. Missing the sweeter, shyer Sans right now because he was acting brazen and bold like . . . like when they first met. Making the first move. Always making first contact. _Cruuuuud_ _. No_ _waaaaaayyy_ _._

Sans didn't want her as a dutiful wife. Or as a friend. He wasn't making a most likely no-win three month deal with her.

He was _after_ her. For a relationship. As a girlfriend. "You're kind of a Monster."

"I kind of don't care."

"It's impossible, what you're thinking you know."

"I cracked FRISK open, didn't I? I'm really good at impossible." He winked at her. "All I need to do is see a _little_ possibility through it."

"Okay, I get it." Frisky held her hands up. "I'm married to you. You saw me naked. We had to make a baby at first and figure out a solution. We have Chance together. Lots of things have pulled us together, but?" She couldn't even breathe real well. "But now we can just be friends, there's no more need for anything more than that. Just." Yeah, he wasn't changing his mind at all. "Human and Monster don't go together like that."

"Yet."

"Sans."

"Ah, ah." He shook his bony finger at her. "Your Legendary Fart Master please."

"Hold on, hang on, you're not getting this."

"Hey, chill? Stop constantly walking backwards my little human, I'm still not going to hurt you. You know that." He held out his bony hand. "Let's go home, my **Faith** ful Frisky?"

"Yeah. Sure." She stopped and gave him her hand. "Fine. Let's go." He wasn't taking off yet. Liar, liar. He was stroking her hand.

"You know, it's funny. I really had no idea how I was going to move on to the next step with you. And now, I don't have to do anything I don't want to at all." He took her hand and pulled her forward. "Too bad for you I want to."

She tried to pull herself back more.

"But you fidgety humans are a little tricky. I might have to be a real Monster to figure out how to get to Point D." He held her hand tighter. "But we'll get there, even with your shy friskiness. For now, let's go home, my Frisky. Our little babybones was just born after all."


	47. The Underground's New Stand

Frisky watched as AM and PM, now Morning and Night, approached Chance in Sans' arms. She would need to get braver with holding Chance soon, but he was so fragile. His bones were as light feeling as chicken bones, and he wasn't able to move anything except his bony right hand.

"Uh. Wow." Night came nearer to Chance. "Um. Sorry? Congrats? I don't know which one to say."

Morning had a similar look as she handed Frisky a couple pairs of clothes. "Aunt Alphys brought this, so he could wear something?"

They were pretty good at speaking Monster. Toriel's new children didn't know it as well, but they were still there too. With the same look of oddity.

Frisky took the clothes, but she agreed with them. Losing six years of his life and reverting to the beginning? No matter how horrible life was, could that really be the good option? Being reborn? Chance was a good boy. A simple but good boy. _No, no. I have to keep it together. Sans is right, this is his new beginning._ And that was another thing. All of the stress of having another babybones was completely over, but somehow, Sans didn't want to let it go.

She thought she knew Sans. Understood him well enough. But, she was beginning to doubt herself. Sans was always a great Skeleton with a fun sense of humor that she liked being friends with. One that she felt terrible for having to put through GENOCIDE or the pain of the truth. Then he was gloomy. A smile that was plastered on but feeling miserable inside. That was the one she had been able to see almost daily, with a little bit of the first sneaking in on occasion.

"Come here, Faithful Frisk, I promise you won't hurt him." Sans tried to touch her arm. "Come on. Don't be scared, let us show you."

Frisky put the clothes on the table beside her and let Sans and Papyrus help maneuver his arms. So tiny and brittle. There was nothing but bones, and he couldn't move anything. As she held him though, she felt a gentle up and down motion. Breathing without breathing. Same thing Sans did. _Chance. Bravest Frisk of all time. At least you seem . . ._ peaceful. No automatic wonder if someone would jump him or what they would do. No more memories of the cells. Everything just wiped away, like a reset that began at birth.

"Do you mind? It is traditional to check on new Monsters. Plus, since this one is half human, it would be good to see how it's soul is doing." Monster Kid's mother said as she laid her hand on the blanket. "It wouldn't hurt him, I promise."

"Mind what?" Frisky asked.

"She specializes in soul healing," Sans said. "You'll feel a little squeeze on your soul."

"Oh. Good to see you are knowledgeable." She opened the blanket and laid her hand just above Chance's rib cage. Frisky did feel a small squeeze, not much. It was a little unsettling though to see her soul just lying out in front of everyone. Sans did the same thing. There was even a tiny soul of Chance's, looming slightly above him. Grey. With. Blue. "Oh, that's . . . unique. Um, but he feels okay." She smiled at her and Sans. "MK is a little upset he just lost his playmate. If he's a bit bitter to you, that's probably why. But, they can play again together when he gets older I'm sure."

Yes, because they all had a long life. Centuries. And. Frisky glanced over toward Sans. He was being more reserved now, which was good. She wasn't used to him being so bold again. But, there was something else there too. It was like he actually put on a little weight, his bones had loosened up that much. Relaxed. He was so relaxed.

That did make sense. He had a second chance with Chance. Chance was no longer a deadly weapon someone could just jump. And they didn't have to do any sexual activities in the future. Which. She.

Had been in the middle of trying to wrap her mind around when all this happened. But, when he started walking toward her saying 'I like you, human'. That um. That was a little. Um. _Creepy?_ No, not creepy but not . . . Monsters didn't get with humans. They were sooo different. _Maybe it was Monster instinct? If Chance was just reborn, and considering how well he is adjusting to the daddy role, maybe that's what it is? Instinct to be near mommy? Maybe? Hopefully?_ Those words he said could be gone by bedtime. He might shyly touch his skull later and say 'sorry about that'. It could be. It should be.

But she felt his strong bony arm wrap around her waist as he grew closer to her. "You got him? You feel comfortable now, Frisky Faith?"

And the loving name. He kept mixing it with Frisky intermittently. "Yeah. I'm getting used to it."

"Great. Go ahead and sit down if you want. I need to talk to Pap for a second." Frisky sat down and watched everyone gather even closer as Sans left.

There were obviously not many babies born around the Underground as much. And if there were, baby bones were probably the rarest. Everyone that had ever even known Sans or her had come. Including Mettaton, who as Sans put it 'was a cool guy but couldn't come anywhere near Chance.' Frisky waved at him from outside where he was waving.

"OooooOOooOOh, Monster babies are sooo rare and precious! Awwww, it would make one fantAaaAaaAAastic shooooow! If only daddy would allow it." Mettaton just waved. "But how does the new human mOoooOOoommmmy feel about this exciting new development?"

Frisky shook her head. She already knew not to talk.

"Hey, no. Shoo," Undyne said waving him away. "Sans said when he gets older, you can see him. He won't even let anyone else hold him except him, Papyrus and Frisky. And _we_ aren't a megaton of metal."

"Mettaton? It's okay, really. When he gets older and it's safer," Alphys insisted.

"Well, we'll just see how things go! I am having my first crossover show out in Snowdout tomorrow!" He announced joyfully. "And I can't wait! They are even going to give me my wonderful full body back!"

"Yes. With assistance," Alphys said. "Some." She looked toward Frisky. "There's a lot more technology out there." She said it with a happy, yet sad look. "This Royal Scientist doesn't even have the knowledge of . . . a-anyhow. Congratulations. Um, or sorry? I suppose. I don't know?"

"Thanks." Honestly. Frisky didn't know either. She just looked down at him. Only his right hand twitched again. "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it. Just like you did the ball." Except, now his whole body was the ball.

"It's. So. Precious!" Dogaressa said, leaning upward higher onto Dogamy. "Soon, we will have our own puppy."

"Uhh. . . yes." One thing Sans never lied about. At all. Sex really was no big deal to Monsters. Nobody cared a lick and she herself just focused on Chance while Dogamy mounted Dogaressa. For . . . at least thirty minutes now. In. In their style. Of course. It started simple enough, like when they thought FRISK was a puppy. But, FRISK never hung around to see what happened afterward.

It was a good thing FRISK never hung around to see what happened afterward.

* * *

 **Upstairs in Sans and Frisky's Room . . .**

"The Great Uncle Papyrus! How do you feel?" Sans said, gesturing to him.

"Quite Wonderful, Sans. I mean, I will miss Chance, but this is still Chance. It's a new chance for Chance," Papyrus insisted. "And you are doing so much better. Look at you. Your skeleton has not been that loose since . . . since . . . well, days since we met the whole FRISK."

"Yep. I feel like a new Skeleton." There was something behind it though, and Sans didn't bother to wipe away his manifested tears. "It's not fair to him. You know? My Kid was a good kid. He shouldn't have lost his whole being like that. But. I . . . it's like . . ." He just let his tears roll down the sides of his cheekbones.

"Oh, Sans. It's okay, I know!" Papyrus bent down and wrapped his arms around his brother. "I am really happy for you, Brother. You get to start learning to be a father at the beginning, and you are already doing a very good job."

"Thanks, Pap." Sans finally wiped the manifested tears off his cheekbones. "Now he's not a weapon anyone will try to destroy. He's a baby Skeleton. And, um, I don't have to do anything with Frisky anymore."

"Yes, that's right. You can just remain friends now," Papyrus agreed. "Quite agreeable."

"But I don't want to do that. I don't have to do anything, but I _want_ to." Sans pulled away from Pap. "I felt something with her today. It was the best feeling ever, Papyrus. I made her laugh, really laugh. At a fart joke."

"At a what?" Papyrus couldn't believe that. "You mean Frisky, the one who took out PERSEVERANCE and saved the Underground multiple times . . . likes fart jokes? Really? Oh. Well shoot, I thought she was kind of cool."

Sans looked out his window. "Flowey was right, but I totally didn't get it. It's not about marriage or a baby or recreating some weird past, Pap." He shoved his bony fingers in his coat. "When we were in Waterfalls, I found that something special. And . . . and I'm not saying that feeling would make me jump toward marriage or anything. But, knowing me, I'd sure be giving her hell to date me."

"Yes!" Flower shouted triumphantly. "You finally got it, Sansy! I was beginning to think you'd never figure it out."

"Well? I don't get it." Papyrus looked utterly confused. "She laughed at a fart joke and now you want to date her?"

"Nah, it's more than that. I can't really describe it past that. It wasn't even that hard to find. I've just been concentrating on everything else. Marriage, Chance, new hours, keeping them safe, learning nutrition, yada, yada, yada." Sans just winked at Pap. "Whatever it is though, I'm _not_ letting it go." He kicked up his slipper. "I want to be Her Legendary Fart Master."

"Her what?" Papyrus asked.

"Her loving name for me." Sans turned around in a circle around Papyrus. "I don't know the first thing about girls, and as a human, it's going to be _really_ hard. I'm not impressive to them at all. In fact, I'm supposed to be a little creepy I think."

"Well. Monster and human usually don't go together. Like, ever. Like, ever, ever," Papyrus said. "Like nowhere ever except in a forgotten timeline."

"Not anymore. I saw it. I saw possibility." Sans gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Pap. I know what I'm doing."

"But?" Papyrus sighed. "Look, Sans. I am sure you and the human could one day maybe make it? It was bad enough putting a three-month goal on it, but if you are the one who starts to pursue? Uh? Aren't humans scared of Monsters enough?"

"Not Frisky. Undyne's killed her many times and she's fine with her still."

"Okay, well, there could be different classes? She handled murder attempts, but this is a different kind of attempt."

"Don't worry so much. I do have to talk to her a bit though later tonight. I think I kind of came on too strong."

"Wait. You mean you already told her?!"

"It was just the moment, Pap. I couldn't hold back."

"Without at least reasoning this out? You have a brand new babybones to raise? A terribly strong Balancer to fight? And . . . okay that's it now, but still?"

"Papyrus." Sans rolled the lights in his eye sockets. "You have to trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know I messed up what I knew about Frisky before, but I know I'm right on this one. Frisky doesn't look for battles, they come to _her_. She isn't just going to walk up and say 'I love you, Sans', or even 'let's go on a date, Sans'. I won't chase her down for an all-out brawl. I'll just lure her in the best way I can." He winked. "With comedy."

"Oh, come on. She'll run away for sure!" Papyrus begged Flowey. "You are supposed to be a smart flower! Tell me this isn't right? He's not on the right track, right? It wasn't really just comedy, right?"

Flowey just bopped his petaled head lightly. "What about Farrisk?"

"Oh yeah. I'm meeting him at seven." Sans stared at Flowey. "But, individually, the Frisks aren't FRISK. How's he supposed to get good enough to fight me without me accidentally killing him?"

"Because, Silly!" Flowey winked. "You won't be Sans the _Skeleton_ anymore."

* * *

 **King Asgore's Castle . . .**

"I . . ." King Asgore looked at the lists and the diplomatic leaders in front of him. A monster Goat, like him. A monster fish, similar to Undyne, and a monster . . . jelly bear? He had never seen anything like that one before. "I don't understand."

"The official way to say it is quite rude, but it is legally required," the monster Goat began. "You see, the area henceforth known as The Underground did not require a specific set of laws or permissions that were up to date since it was technically under the Classic Monster Natural Preservation Act. Now, what this means is that you are technically an illegal area. Nothing has been made officially for you. Any kind of legal actions that have been performed here are no longer valid."

"I still don't understand," King Asgore reasoned again. "The Underground is _my_ Kingdom."

"Well, we don't use Kingdom anymore? Or the word King. These are all terms that are no longer recognizable. You see, what you truly are, the leader who creates, destroys and rules, is now called a District Leader. DL for short, so you are DL Asgore. And the word Kingdom is actually just a District. You are a very tiny district, a small area with your own policies and leadership thus far."

King Asgore blinked. "What exactly are you wanting?"

"Peace and compromising," The Fishy monster announced as he pointed to the papers laid out before him. "The territory of Snowdout has made itself a welcoming territory for more than a decade, ready to help this neighboring district if the time ever came forward. Now, that is an option if we can't work an agreement out. Not saying anything will be hard to work out, just stating for the fact that it is an option. Legoli, your presentation?"

"Yes," The strange Jellyshaped bear began. "We need to get you out of this illegal loop that your District is now in because it's not your fault that you fell out of your Natural Preservation Area. Nor does anyone agree that it was right or wrong."

"It was wrong!" King Asgore slammed his fist down. "It. Was. _Wrong_."

"Oh." The Jellyshaped bear blinked. "That's why you were the King I see. Okay, let's start this way? You want to get all your rules followed and your District worked out before you start . . . relations with nearby areas?"

"Now, now, what Legoli is saying. Terribly sorry Legoli. Some history should probably be covered." The Fishy monster approached Asgore closer. "Balancers, or monsters will a little 'm', they control a very, very large portion of everything. There are literally billions of monsters now, with thousands of territories, districts and District Leaders. Such as yourself. We find that we tend to do better if we . . ." He gestured his hands. "Do some things together like humanity did prior, but still let our . . . natural tendencies get carried out. There are places for the most vile of beasts who want to just eat a human every day, and there are places for the tinest and smallest of sweet little Monsters who may just want a fly. Everyone has their place."

"But in order for that balance to stay, there needs to be 'some' agreement. Once you have officially declared your territory into it's own proper area, then you can begin on the finer areas. So, that is where we are now. Once it's all established, properties, marriages, things of that nature can be made legal outside of just your District."

"It's really very simple. We make it very basic so that all monsters can make this kind of communication between their own Districts. After this, you probably won't hear from us again."

"Well." King Asgore folded his paws. "I'm listening then. How can I make my Kingdom have peace with other areas?"

The Jellyshaped bear began again. "Well, first of all, you need to decide who you are. You can be a Solo District. That is technically what the Underground had been before, except you would be made aware of it. You would also not have any rights to resets, saves, or continues. You would have the right to run anything the same way as you have since your Kingdom began, but if someone wanted to leave your District, they would have to go through a lengthy process before they would be allowed to enter into a new District."

The Fishy monster pointed to the first set of papers. "Almost all communication is shut off. You have only the most basic of rights in case you want to change your mind in a Solo District. Not, um, not many choose it," he said honestly. "Isolation is, as you know, tough."

"The second option is Compromising District. Most oh say . . . seventy percent? They prefer this. Compromising Districts are not allowed to have humans brought into them unless they are classified as a slave, or children are part Monster. The residents are usually much more friendlier, human body parts are not carried around within it, and it's overall much more pleasant."

"Oh. Well." Asgore shook his head. "We have humans trapped within our barrier. That would not work."

"The third option is a Barbarian District. This District, well, it allows anything. They are usually set up between the safety of human civilization districts. And uh . . ." The Jellyshaped bear paused.

The Fish monster continued. "They are good districts for monsters who crave human flesh. It's very easy to get, you can do anything with humans, there's no 'I can't carry a human head for a snack later' awkwardness or anything. There's no censorship of any kind, you can do whatever the fuck you want. I'm from a Barbarian District."

"I am from a Compromising District," The Jellyshaped bear took over.

"And I," The unnamed Monster Goat, "am from a Compromising District. There is no representative for a Solo District because of the nature of . . . well, being solo."

"Where are the humans?" King Asgore growled. "You have not gone over anything dealing with the actual humans. I admit, I am not the fondest. But. Where are the humans?"

"The rodents are used for experimentation, missions, you know things that you wouldn't want a monster being involved in because it's dangerous. Either that or kept in little barriers to grow and reproduce."

"Into Conduits? Into Re-resets?" King Asgore asked forwardly.

"The human civilizations don't, they just reproduce the vermin. Not much of it though, the pace is slower. We prefer Conduits and re-resets since they have a purpose."

"Now, you are free to choose whichever choice you want. Or, the one that's the least despicable," the Fish monster said. "But, if you don't make a choice, you will . . ." He cleared his throat. "There are billions of monsters out there. You don't want to put up a battle, you'll die in seconds. It's usually a good idea to talk to your residents about the choices laid before you. They will have a 24 hour grace period to decide the action they want to take."

"Twenty four hours?!"

"Yes, it's best not to let these things trundle on. Any Monster who prefers not to go the way you are going, well, Snowdout already has policies and immediate homing ready, and there are more than enough jobs to find out there too. Especially for Classic Monsters. Quite made that way."

"Immediate homing? For how many?"

"All. If every single resident wanted to leave, they could."

"Go." King Asgore said softly. "I will . . . I will look over these papers and address my residents soon. Go!"

"Don't forget that you can add your own laws within the very basics of what is allowed in each District."

"I said leave! You may come back for your answer soon."


	48. Solo or Compromise?

Frisky continued to rock Chance. All the Monsters had returned home. Sans so far, had not done an irrational thing or made any kind of attempt at talking to her about the issue yet. Maybe it was just all Monster instinct. Maybe he even forgot about it?

Although, Chance's change was tough, she had to admit. He really wasn't that bad. For being a tiny Skeleton he was . . . he was kind of cute.

"Hey?" Sans came over toward her closer. "Listen. Why don't you take some time to go see the other two Frisks? I'm going to have to hang out with Farrisk, but I promise I won't kill him." He gestured back toward Papyrus who waved eagerly. "Pap's going to watch Chance for a little while. Say, an hour?"

Seemed absolutely normal now. Even better actually. She could see the Frisks? "Sure, an hour. That would be great. Are you sure though?"

"Yeah. I really don't want you to feel stuck here. You've got your little MP thing. Go ahead, go have fun. I'll see you in an hour. That fine?"

"That's great. Thank you." She got up and gently handed Chance over to Papyrus. "I'll be back soon. Be careful, okay?"

"The most careful ever. I understand just how delicate he is. Which is very!" Papyrus said. "I, The Great Uncle Papyrus, will make the best babysitter ever!"

"Great. Won't be long." Sans wiggled his fingers at Papyrus and waited outside.

Really did seem fine. _It must have been some kind of Monster instinct. I was just overreacting. Maybe._

* * *

 **Outside in the Backyard of Sans' House . . .**

Sans stood by the flower. "Okay. How do I do this?"

"Close your eyes and open your mouth," Flowey teased. "Just kidding! Role reversal with Frisky sounded kind of fun, huh?"

"Flowey," Sans warned. "How do I do this?"

"Okay, okay." Flowey held his stems out. "Imagine all of your power being sucked into you at once. Not into an arm. Not into a leg. Not into some kind of muscle. You have to do it all at once."

"Oh. That kind of makes sense." He always tried to concentrate on one part, and then move onto the next.

"So yeah, the close your eyes thing, I meant that part," Flowey said. "Close your eyes. Bring all your magic into your bones."

"All?"

"All."

"That's." Did he understand what he was saying? "Flowey, that's a lot of power."

"It takes a lot of power. Now. All. Don't do it slow either. Bring it all in at once, Sansy. Immediate vacuum. Whatever you can summon in one go. Don't spare any of it."

"I could blow something up."

"Nothing external. All internal. Trust me, Sansy. Have I lied to you?" Flowey looked at the ground, then back at him. "Have I lied today?"

 _All my power. Into me._ Sans closed his eyes. No build-up. Just all or nothing. _Maybe I should go away further, I don't want to blow up the house or hurt anyone._ "We should go away further."

"Look. When you have a body, your . . . not going to be able to take shortcuts as well. Trust me. Go out a little farther from Snowdin if you want, but don't go too far."

Sans took that advice and just went a little ways past his house. Where he probably wouldn't do too much damage if he messed it up. Probably. Maybe. _Try and keep it all in._ He kept his eyes closed and did it. He released all of the power that he could pull in an instant.

And he felt cold. He felt cold all over. He opened his eye sockets and looked at his bony hands. They weren't bony anymore. There was flesh on them. He touched his skull. No smoothness. Tender skin. He felt the side of his head. Ears, and something else. He pulled at it gently. "That's weird."

"That's hair your touching," Flowey explained. "You did it. Told you. Not too hard."

Sans looked down at himself. "I'm cold, but I have my coat on."

"Coats don't stop the cold, just helps it," Flowey reminded him. "It's really cold in Snowdin. Now you know how I feel!"

"Yeah, no kidding." He looked at his bony legs. Now fragile flesh. He touched his eye socket. "Ow!"

"You poked yourself in the eye," Flowey laughed. "You have eyes now, Smiley Trashbag. Don't do that."

"Oh. I thought the world looked a little different." He repeatedly blinked his eyes. He closed and opened his mouth, feeling the front of his mouth. "Lips." He started to pucker them in and out as he touched the front of his face. Tender flesh everywhere, with something jutting out. "Oh, that's the nose. The nose knows I guess." He shoved his weird fleshy hands in his coat. "Great. How do I look?"

"Like a chubby short human with freakish silver hair with blue highlights. Your eyes match Frisky and Chance's too. All in all, you're probably only _slightly_ better looking than a Skeleton to Frisky." Flowey chuckled. "Good thing she's not here! Now, try something."

"Try what?"

"Do some magic."

"Oh." Sans tried to lift a nearby stick. He managed it, but not very well. At all. "It lifted like three feet off the ground?"

"Yeah. All your magic is being used to retain your body form," Flowey reminded him. "And you've got a whole body."

"And . . . becoming a very, very weak Monster is supposed to help me how?" Sans questioned him.

"Because. It's in your very, very weak contained magic body shell that you gain more power. You already had plenty, Sansy! You had a ton! There was no way for you to ever get more. Ever need more. But guess what? You _need_ more now, and to get more, you need a container." Flowey bopped his head all around. "That's your container."

"It feels weird." He picked one of his feet off of the ground, looking at it. "Should have worn more than slippers."

"Yeah, that snow is probably freezing your skin. Well, let's get started!" Flowey laughed. "Where's Farrisk supposed to meet you?"

* * *

 **Right outside in the back of Sans Home . . .**

Farrisk raised an eyebrow toward Sans. "I don't know. I mean, are you sure about this? I know we'll probably eventually get killed down here, but pierced to death isn't the way I wanted to go."

"You'll be fine," Flowey said from the sidelines. "In fact, just to make sure you don't get a cocky head? Even as weak as Sans may seem, he's got a lot more than you know, and I already showed him how to come back, so he can instantly become his old self and kill you." He smiled wide. "Let's begin."

"But, why are we doing this?" Farrisk asked Sans. "And why is Sans . . . human?"

"Flesh body," Sans corrected him. "I have a strong opponent to fight."

"Wait. Does Frisky know about this?" Farrisk asked. "Where is she?"

"She's hanging out with the other Frisks. Can we get started already?" Sans asked. He still wasn't thrilled about the idea of fighting a Frisk in his state. "I agreed to use the boards."

"So no cheating?"

"No cheating." Sans pulled him into an encounter.

"Great!" Flowey cheered from the sideline. "Now, try and dodge Farrisk. And Farrisk, don't try and kill him unless you can do it one shot or he'll come back on you. Oh, and FYI Silly human! Don't listen to the boards. He's got more than one hit point now."

Farrisk didn't reply.

 **FARRISK: FIGHT**

Farrisk came at him with a stick, knowing much better than to even pull a knife on him. Sans managed to dodge, but it was much rougher, and the landing wasn't half as good. He used to be able to just dodge and pull himself back. Instead, he looked like he was taking a dirty snow nap.

He pulled himself back up and dusted himself off.

"Great job!" Flowey cheered again from the sideline. "Now just do that for about forty-five more minutes and you can both call it a day."

* * *

 **Waterfalls . . .**

"Well, hey, it's nice to see you again," Friskarino smiled at Frisky. "It was cool to hang out again."

"Yeah. Her new warden let her out. Yippee," Friskay complained.

"At least I'm here," Frisky said back. "Chance changed. He's a Skeleton now."

"So he did go through the change?" Friskarino asked. "How'd he do? Is he getting used to it?"

"He can only move a hand." Frisky scratched her eyebrow. "He was . . . reborn into a Skeleton. He's like a baby Skeleton. Not very big at all."

"Oh. My. Gaw." Friskay covered her head. "That poor kid. Reborn into a Monster."

"Oh. Wow, geez. I'm sorry, Frisky," Friskarino apologized. "Damn. Poor Chance."

"I know. He gets a new beginning, a new mindwipe, and I am trying to be happy about that," Frisky confessed. "Everyone else around me was happy. It was like they didn't think they'd miss the old Chance at all."

"Bastards," Friskay groaned. "All bastards. Chance was a sweet kid! This is a travesty. Another Frisk lost."

"He's not dead," Friskarino said. "We should be happy about that. He won't remember anything about the cells or experiments. We should feel good about that at least."

"Stop looking at things half full already," Friskay said pointing to Friskarino. "Just admit it. This sucked."

"I don't know." He looked toward Frisky. "I really don't know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Um, just another thing for a Frisk to deal with." She shrugged. "At least Sans is doing a good job with him. He seems to bond easier now."

"Great. The Monster sex guy makes dad of the year." Friskay glanced at her, almost like she was trying to judge her reaction. "So he hasn't touched you yet?"

"No, and for your information, he won't." Frisky stood up. "We don't have to have another baby anymore because Chance was reborn. But, even then, you were wrong. He promised not to touch me until he actually had flesh like a human."

"That's . . ." Friskarino raised an eyebrow? "What?"

"Royalty would give it to him one time. After that, he would have just split us into separate bedrooms and everything." She flaunted it a little too hard in Friskay's face. "I told you."

"Well." Friskay shrugged. "Okay. I guess I admit I'm sorry about that one then. But, I still think you shouldn't trust him. I still think he likes you."

Frisky twitched slightly. "Um. He might? I don't know."

"Wait, what?" Friskay stuck out her tongue. "Oh, gross! Are you kidding me?"

"I don't know. I mean, he said he 'liked me, liked me' today, but I think it might have been Monster instinct?" Friskay said looking at them both. "It is, right? Does, does a bonding father instinct, um, go that way too?"

"I don't know the books. Still, that's creepy," Friskay said leaning backward onto an echo flower. "A Monster actually liking you. I mean, really wanting to be with you? Oh, wow. I thought sex would be bad."

"Well. I mean? You're married," Friskarino tried. "Sans is a good guy. Why not?"

"Hey, Friskarino. I think there's a dead woman's skeleton a few feet away. Why don't you go fall in love with that, huh?" Friskay teased him as she sat back up. "Oh, gaw, I wish Farrisk was here. He had a more stable view of everything. Where is he?"

* * *

 **Outside of Sans and Papyrus' House a ways . . .**

"Oh shoot, I'm sorry Sans!" Farrisk said, wincing. "Don't kill me, I didn't mean it! It was just a stick too, I-!"

"Fine." Sans pulled himself up again. Flesh. Bodies. Sucked. They were heavier and real breathing made it harder to talk out of real vocal chords. What was the worst though was that they hurt. Bodies felt pain. Scratches, bruises, wounds. Every little dent on the body triggered a pained response.

"Well, that's pretty good." Flowey pushed his stems together and clapped. "Good job, Smiley Trashbag! Forty minutes against a Frisk. Not bad. You should have him come back every night at 7:00. Frisky can have her little powwows with her friends. Everybody's happy."

"Yeah. Real. Happy." Sans coughed as he grabbed at his stomach. He closed his eyes and released his magic back out. So much easier. "Oohhh, that's much better." He looked at his bony hands again. "Back to normal." No more pain. He looked toward Farrisk. "Great going, kid. Thanks for not trying to kill me."

"Well. I don't want to die either," Farrisk said. "So. This flesh thing?"

"It's a secret between just us three," Flowey said bopping his head back and forth. "Sansy wants Frisky to fall in love with him as a Monster, so don't complicate things by telling her he can get flesh too."

"Spill everything?" Sans complained to him.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm good at secrets. But now?" His face turned dark. "Can we go home already? I am freezing and it makes me bitter!"

"Yep." Sans trotted over and picked the flower up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Farrisk."

"Um. Sure." Farrisk hit some buttons on his teleporter and took off.

"So." Sans looked down at Flowey. "That somehow made me stronger?"

"No. Mostly you got your butt kicked, Sansy," Flowey teased, "but, you are on your way."

* * *

 **Inside Sans' Home . . .**

Chance was down in his safety skeleton crib. It was tough to find, but Papyrus easily found one out of Snowdout and got it for him. He also picked up a few clothes for it too. They were cheaper and easier to find in Snowdout.

Frisky was relaxing at the table, probably taking in everything while Papyrus was working on his next set of puzzles. Everyone was just relaxing, but he just read a text that was unrelaxing. All day he'd gotten texts of congratulations, but it wasn't one of those.

 **Alphys** **:** **Mettaton** **wants us all to watch the TV.** **King** **Asgore** **has something really big he needs to tell everyone. He was yelling about it. I know** **Mettaton** **yells, but he was seriously, really YELLING about it.**

"Hm?" Sans went over and turned on the TV. "Mettaton has something on he wants us to watch."

"Huh?" Frisky came over along with Papyrus. They all gathered around the TV.

On the TV, Mettaton waved from the corner, finishing his own quick speech. Then, he shot the news straight to King Asgore. The King did not look happy. At all. "It has come to my attention," he addressed everyone, "that the Underground being freed now has . . . a new responsibility. It must integrate into a world that it does not really know." He was pausing a lot. "There are three choices of integration, and none of them are pleasant."

"Oh no," Frisky said. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Do you know anything, Sister?" Papyrus asked.

"Uh?" Frisky wasn't used to him getting the addressal right. "No. I don't know much about anything except soldier things."

"If any of you do not like the choice I make," King Asgore continued, "then you have twenty four hours after my decision is final to relocate to Snowdout, a small territory on the other side of Snowdin. If you are too small and cannot make the trip, help will be provided. But. Know this. It is . . . it is not easy to make this choice. I do not want to make this choice. However, there are billions of Monsters out there who would do battle with us if we _don't_ make a choice. They are allies upon each other, and this is instant suicide upon the Kingdom."

King Asgore took a deep breath. "I had three choices. I struggled between two. This Kingdom will however never be a Barbarian District. Although humans are trapped inside of it, and I do know that many of us do not appreciate humanity, this District is clearly not for us. It is a system of Anarchy and I will not use it. Not only that, we do have Conduits, and they must stay protected. So, this Kingdom may either be a Solo District or a Compromising District. To be a Compromising District, the humans inside will have to be murdered, somehow removed, or enslaved."

"No. No, no, no."

"It's okay." Sans patted her hand. "We'll all be okay."

"His other choice?" Papyrus questioned. "He's stalling. What is it?"

"The last choice that I can consider . . ." King Asgore took a moment on the TV. "Is a Solo District. The Underground will run as it has always run. I will remain King, and nothing will change. No new laws brought in by outsiders, no battles drawn, no enslavement, nothing. However. I must. Refuse any residents from leaving The Underground Area." He closed his eyes and hung his head. "We can see the sun, stars, moons and skies. But we will be unable to leave the barrier. If an individual does, they are drawing themselves into a battle with too many Monsters to fathom, ready to kill. We would be provided a few services, but . . . overall. It would be like never leaving the illusion of Mt. Ebott."

"Never leaving? Never?!" Papyrus shouted. "Enslave and kill all the humans, or stay forever? Is that the only choices we have?"

Frisky just shook her head. Balancers. If only she'd been more than a soldier. Had more education about so much else. But, that wasn't her world. Or she could have warned them. Known to be more prepared herself.

"Now," King Asgore continued on the TV. "I know that many of you do not wish to have _that_ happen again, and I do not blame you if you want to leave, if I make this choice. Snowdout has enough housing and financial help to get any Monster on track in a new life." He raised his head. "At this time, I do not know which way to go. There are a few other arrangements that have recently been decided upon dealing with humans, that I need to personally see to according to some official papers I have."

He took a deep breath and folded his paws. "It is not easy. There are sacrifices required for either option. For a Solo District, the sacrifice to roam. And for the Compromising District . . ."

"They are going to try and kill Chance." Sans folded his arms and his eye sockets stared only darkness at the TV.

"Chance and all humans? Or enslavement?" Papyrus looked toward Frisky. "What about marriage, human, does that count?"

Frisky just shrugged. "I don't. I don't know anything." She darted her eyes back and forth. "I don't. There's no ACT for this. I don't know what to do."

"Sans? Brother? W-What're we going to do?" Papyrus questioned.

Sans approached Frisky and hugged her. "Hey?" She looked toward him. He laid his skull against her forehead. "It's okay. I promise, no one's going to hurt you two. No matter what. The King is going to make the right decision."

"But he . . . but for the . . ." Frisky blinked. "I'm sorry, I can't be biased or blind. He has taken out six human children in the past, Sans. To get freedom-"

"He's **not** going to." Sans pulled her closer, stroking his bony fingers through her hair.

"How do you know?"

"Because he's not going to want to go against his own daughter."


	49. Give Him An Excuse

**Sans' and Papyrus' House . . .**

Okay. He was comforting her. Sans the Skeleton was holding her close, lying his skull next to her forehead. Either he cared for her like his best bestie ever, or . . . _holy smokes, he does like me._ And even though a Frisk shouldn't unless it was helpful in an ACT, she selfishly took that hug. She needed it for her determination. This would be a rough one, and she would need back up. Not a Frisk back up.

"Stop thinking so hard," Sans insisted as he pulled away. "If need be, we'll figure a way out, but I think we'll be fine. Right, Papyrus?"

"Right. Yes." Papyrus moved toward the window . "I suppose I better go and get everything I can for baby Skeletons in the morning. The Underground doesn't have anything, and if King Asgore makes the decision to entrap us all down here forever . . ." He chuckled nervously as he looked at Frisky. "Then that would be the peachy keeniest?"

Chara was one thing, but there was no way the entire Underground would just go with Solo District. They were all bent on getting FRISK before. Would letting them have the truth and their skies be enough to endure being stuck forever again? "Mettaton was designed to destroy humans."

"By Alphys," Sans reminded her.

"Which didn't matter with FRISK farther in the timeline," she reminded him. Then again. "He mentioned getting his full body back. Oh, I'm such a clutz. FRISK didn't do anything yet." She looked toward Sans. "Why did he say that?" Oh no. "Did you fight?"

"I ACTed," Sans said. "Like I haven't seen that one a million times. He got the hint. What? I've got a human wife and kid and a human killer that doesn't always like to follow Alphys."

"An innocent soul."

"An innocent soul that doesn't mind being a killer robot. No big deal. Worth the ratings boost."

Well, that encounter had been over and done with. Sans felt he had to do it apparently at some point. Still. _I am FRISK. I did not need him to do that. I could handle_ _Mettaton_ _. I even handled_ _Undyne_ _._ "King Asgore seems torn. He hasn't made the decision yet in his head."

"Yeah. Every Monster near and far is going to be trying to convince him one way or the other," Sans agreed. "He'll pick the right one though. A lot of Monsters are probably going to leave the Underground. But." Sans shrugged. "That's life."

"You are awfully confident that Chara will make him choose Solo," Frisky said. "My determination in that matter is not so high. To depend strictly upon her without more input is not the right ACT for this."

"Maybe we should listen to her?" Papyrus said to Sans. "She was with her for ten years or so. You barely know her." Sans gave him a strained look. "Oh. Nevermind. It will all be fine."

Yes. Frisky thought so. Sans was just ACTing himself. He didn't know any better than she.

"In order to open up as much as he needs for the other options, King Asgore is going to have to take down the barrier. Chara isn't going to allow that," Sans tried to convince her again. "and, if she does? Then we'll all leave Snowdin and find somewhere safe."

"Leave Snowdin? Leave home?" Papyrus scoffed. "Sans, we can't do that! What would we do? Where would we go? And then, there is **_C_** ** _hance_** , a new baby Skeleton. We couldn't risk him out there."

"Papyrus, Chance's soul is grey with blue. Whether he can or will be jumped in in the future, we don't really know. And neither do Balancers. I guarantee one of the sacrifices. Is him." Sans met his own gaze against him. "No one's taking him."

"Oh. Yes." Papyrus spoke so softly, it was barely heard. "Trapped in Underground is our best option again. I suppose. I'm going to bed." He waved at each of them with barely a care. "We'll just see what happens tomorrow."

Hearing he had the chance to be trapped back Underground wasn't easy. And he was only one. _So many Monsters would leave. No one wants to be trapped here anymore._ "I need to see Chara." Frisky headed over toward Chance. "I need him too."

"Okay." Sans undid Chance's strange belt in the crib. "Let's go."

"No. Just me," she insisted.

"No. Not with him 'just you'," Sans said back. "If you want to see Chara, we'll go with him."

Tough. She could not think of an ACT that would break him. He was too concerned about Chance. "Okay. I guess you should come." She gestured to the door. "Out we go. She'll find us."

"It's cold outside."

"I'll be fine. Let's go," Frisky said as she opened the door.

* * *

"So, there's **_snow_** telling when she'll come out, huh?" Sans joked as he held Chance, tagging along behind Frisky.

"I don't know if she will come out as easily while you are here," Frisky said back to him, ignoring the joke. They were out aways from the backyard, about to hit the side of the barrier she could no longer cross. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted for her.

"I told you. I don't want to deal with the next big thing." Chara appeared in front of Frisky with her eyes closed. "Hey, Frisky."

"I know," Frisky said, "but can you accomplish what you want as easily by staying out of it?"

"I protect the Monsters and those inside the barrier." Chara opened one eye toward Sans. "Is that my Itty Bitty?"

"For now," Sans said. "Of course, if you let your dad pick Compromise, he'll just be a pile of broken bones, won't he?"

"Sans, not that way," Frisky warned him as Chara approached Chance.

"Ah, my Itty Bitty is now Bony Itty Bitty." Chara leaned over and looked at him. "Hey, Kiddo! It's Aunt Chara!" She laughed. "What a cute little bonehead he is now. Monster is always better to be than human."

"I can agree with you there," Frisky said as she moved back toward Sans and Chara. "I am not asking you to get involved. I know you do not want to get involved. Neither choice is appealing. One will hunt humans down, kill them, and kill Chance. The other will entrap everyone down here again, unable to leave."

Chara sighed. "Fine, okay. You know there's no way he'll pick Solo. Every Monster would just leave his Kingdom. No one wants to be stuck here anymore. Even if they never felt compelled to leave before, the fact that it was an option?" She looked toward Sans. "You _know_ how much everyone wanted freedom. They won't go down for a few humans. They didn't in the past. They won't now. Neither will Daddy Asgore. He's just got too big of a heart to make that decision as easy. But, it'll be made. But. It won't be that . . . bad."

"How?" Frisky asked. "What can be done?"

"Not many humans got trapped down here. Ipecacci Spaghetti took out most of the ones that did. Only the ones I've been protecting are still alive. The Frisks. Conner. And one other human. I didn't have the heart to not help her," Chara admitted. "She's carrying right now." She floated off the ground a little. "Itty Bitty's protected, he's half Monster. They might try to come after him, but they can't go too far. They know it. Cause . . ." She looked toward Sans sideways. "Even though he's yours, he was 04823's. That's why no one has actually messed with him. They expect _him_ to get him back."

Sans pulled Chance closer.

"Just letting you know. But, uh. Sans?" She batted her eyelashes at him comically. "How are you feeling with the Frisks?"

"Whyyy?" Sans questioned her.

"If you enslave them, and Conner, and the other human, and your wife, you'll be good to go," Chara said. "Do you mind?"

"What?" Sans shook his head. "No way. I won't enslave anyone."

"But, you could have them help you guard? It's what the Frisks are made for anyway. They were raised to ACT and FIGHT. And if you don't?" Chara shook her head. "You know everyone in the Underground knows you married a human. They'll come after her, and they'll get my Frisks, and they'll get my Conner. And a poor little pregnant human that still hasn't quite achieved being good at ACTing yet." She glared at him. "I trust you with the humans. Everyone else that has ever encountered them has _always_ fought. Even your brother wanted to capture. Everyone. Everything. Even the tiniest froggit would encounter FRISK. Even my own mom forced FRISK to fight to get out. You never did anything when FRISK was a _good_ human."

"What does that have to do with it?" Sans asked.

"Because. Enslavement is . . . tempting. I am ** _trusting_** you with the few humans I protect. That's. Not. Easy."

"Isn't there anything else?" Frisky asked. "A different option? A different ACT that we are unaware of?"

"Can't you convince your dad to go Solo?" Sans asked. "I don't think he'd listen to Tori, but you're his daughter. He cared a great deal for you. Right?"

"Even if I came down and went 'Yo, pops, remember me! Hey, I want you to go ahead and trap everyone in the Underground back down here forever again! Would you do that for me, pllleeease?' Pfft." Chara stuck her tongue out. "Besides, enslave humans or trap Monsters. Neither is the best option, but if you have them, Sans, you'll take care of them. Convince my dad to let you have them."

Sans shook his head. "I barely made enough to get considered for commitment or marriage. How could I handle that? Where would everyone stay? I don't have that kind of room."

"You don't have to support them, just enslave them. And Frisky? Well . . ." Chara wiggled her fingers. "You might want to enslave her under Concubine."

"What's a concubine?"

 _Concubine?_ "Chara?" Frisky asked. "Are you sure?"

"If he wants you to keep living with him, he'll have to," Chara said. "I. I don't want to get involved in Balancers. I mean it, Frisky." She growled. "But, _fine_. I'll do this one thing. I'll see my dad and I'll tell him to give ownership to Sans. He can do the procedures tomorrow, and then dad can pick Compromise. It'll make Daddy Asgore feel better too."

"How . . ." Sans shrugged. "How can I enslave my own wife?"

"Marriage with humans isn't possible in Compromise. Concubine means she, ya know, makes ya happy-happy in a physical way," Chara said. "Usually not by her own will, but let's not get picky. Once dad officially chooses Compromise, then your marriage would have been invalid."

"But that's . . . marriage is forever," Sans said, looking down at Chance. "It's forever to Monsters."

"Not in the legal way. Not anymore."

"Marriage is forever," Sans said firmly.

"To you. Which is good. Keep remembering that." Chara looked toward Frisky. "I didn't expect this move until I was ready to leave. They didn't wait long enough to give the Crossing territory option."

"What's Crossing territory?" Sans asked.

"It takes four months to get approved. Daddy Asgore will have to have enough guards, and he'll need to expand to allow everyone, including humans, to pass if they meet approval. In other words. No barrier." Chara kicked her feet up and laid comfortably in the air. "I figured after that I would take off, and I'd have gotten all I wanted taken care of. This cramps my style, but it's still a little thing. Enslave the humans a few months, and then you can be a Crossing territory. Deslave everyone and marry Frisky again, if you want. Things are way looser. She could also just live with you now without committing or marriage or anything in Crossing territory. No more problems."

"Solo. Territory."

"Sans." Frisky looked toward Chara. "Enslaved for a few months?"

"Then trapped Monsters for a few months," Sans countered. "Being trapped a few months more is not a big deal."

"That is true," Chara reasoned, "However, King Asgore never fulfilled his promise to release everyone from the Underground. That was you and Alphys, Sans. And if he goes up to Monsters and says 'we'll become a Crossing territory in a few months, but until then, you're going to be entrapped here because I don't feel like murdering a few measly humans for you all.' Well, it doesn't made Daddy Asgore look good either. He's the King. There's like seven humans that need dealt with. A really low number, and not one of them a cute kid. Plus, he already got rid of some with Ipeccaci Spaghetti. So, seriously? That's no King! If I were a Monster, I'd march out bitterly to Snowdout and go 'screw it all, bite my butt'."

"King Asgore would appear weak," Frisky agreed. "That would lead to more trouble. Maybe someone even overtaking the throne?" Hint, hint.

"Oh, they couldn't. He's got the papers and everything. Balancers got their legal ways which protect him. Still, a lot of Monsters will lose faith," Chara agreed. "Honestly, unless another Monster is in danger, they don't care." Chara looked over toward Frisky. "Unless another Monster was in danger . . . hey Frisky, how far have you gotten with hub-hub?"

"What do you mean?" Frisky asked.

"Hey, Sans?" Chara gestured toward Frisky. "You ever get close to your second ** _Chance_** yet?"

"Huh? Oh no." Sans shook his head and looked at Chance a bit. "We don't have to worry about that anymore."

"I bet no one wanted to leave Itty Bitty alone, huh?"

"Nope."

"All the Monsters thought he was the cutest. A new little Skeleton Monster."

"Yeah. Pretty rare. As in non-existent."

"I understand," Frisky said. "Monsters would do about _anything_ for a baby Monster. So if mommy was already carrying another baby Skeleton Monster?" Frisky looked toward Chara. "Sympathetic ACT."

"Bingo."

"But we already have Chance, and you know they would try and kill him." Sans sounded unconvinced.

"Yeah, but _not_ Daddy Asgore. I know him better. I know his soft spots. This whole thing actually is a soft spot and Chance is about the only reason he hasn't gone Compromise yet. Monster human baby murder. _Ouch_. You just need to give him the right cover that a lot of Monsters would fall for. Plus, the only a few month thing instead of forever. He'll go Solo like creamy butter."

"One rare baby Monster is tough, but another on the way is too much," Frisky reasoned. "It makes sense. It hits all the buttons."

"King Asgore just needs a **_great_** excuse, and he'll be a fuzzy pushover." Sans nodded. "Yeah, now I get it."

"Right, 'cause Monsters are very loving." Chara nodded her head. "They've gone like a thousand years, what's a few more months to save two cute babybones? Actually, one _might_ have done it when dad found out it was only a few months, but it was pushing it. Two is just perfect. Plus, Frisky's ACT is a bonus. She'll convince them all that humans and Monsters can not only get along, but can actually love each other. Now, can I cook or can I cook, Frisky?" She winked and gave her an okay sign. "When the Crossing territory comes, then you can just ACT again. After all, a Monster human baby might be tough to come to term just being natural?" She chuckled over at Sans. "Right?"

"Yeah. If we get you and Chance on Mettaton's show, they'll all fall for it." Sans readjusted Chance and gave Chara a thumbs up. "It doesn't even have to be real pleading. Mettaton begged to have you on before. This could work. Word about his show spreads like a virus. Good job, kid. I definitely owe you one."

"Nah. You gave a lot of GOLD for a lot of Grillby's over the years. Just take care of my Itty Bitty, and watch out for my Frisks." With that, Chara disappeared.

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

"Hang on," Sans said as he knocked at Papyrus' door. "Hey, you still up?"

"Whaaaat?" Papyrus whined through the door.

"Me and Frisky just saved the day again. We'll be fine. No entrapment or losing Frisky and Chance."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, now knock back a few Z's again." Sans went over and opened their bedroom door. "After you."

Huh. Frisky went through and grabbed a set of pajamas. Purple. She was getting much more used to her new home. Sans waited by the door. "Don't even think about it."

"I'll be outside four minutes. Or for a minute. One or the other." He took off and left her to get dressed.

Now. ACTing like she was pregnant, and then losing it. _Cruel._ She'd gone through both things. She had done a very good ACT of 'It's no big deal' for it. It would save Monsters loyalty to King Asgore, and it would save the humans from being enslaved. There wasn't much choice in the ACT. Not all ACTs were easy, but they were necessary to reach the solution. She went and opened the door back for Sans again. He wasn't there though. _Did he take a shortcut back to the room?_ She turned around and looked.

"Hiya."

She jumped. Of course, Sans was always good at sneaking up on people. He was holding Chance in one hand and the special tiny crib in the other.

"Give Flowey a show?"

"I don't have a human lust drive," Flowey reminded him. "Never understood it. Humans just got humps with tips and flesh bodies with-"

"Okay, time for bed." Frisky took the small tiny crib from Sans hand and placed it beside the bed. It was a strange little thing, much different than a human crib. Almost like a changing table. Since baby Skeletons couldn't move all that much, there weren't many safeguards needed. It was all about soft protection. The bed underneath was fit to almost Chance's size. Not very big. It was filled with some kind of plasma, and it felt like a bed made of water. The sides also had the same strange plasma filled bedding. There was no need for a pillow. The whole body needed the same amount of protection.

"Here ya go, My Kid. Get some more sleep. Maybe you'll get the hang of your other hand tomorrow." Sans laid him down on it. "Speaking of rest, you know the drill."

Frisky crawled into bed while Sans came over.

"Okay Frisky," he said. "Close your eyes and open your mouth."

It wasn't the first time she'd done that, but it was the first time since he said he liked her this morning. He would probably enjoy it more. She didn't know if she liked that or not. Still, she did as she was told.

"Ready for something blue?"

Oh great. He was real into it. "I guess so."

"Nah, nah, leave your mouth open while you say that."

Enjoying it way too much. "Ahguetho."

"Gesundheit."

"What?" She didn't sneeze. She felt him starting to lean over . . . and felt something in her mouth. She closed her mouth and started to chew. "Monster Candy?"

"The blue edition." Sans held up the candy in front of her. "Tasty and blue, huh?"

Why. That.

"Awww, what? Did you want a kiss? Ask for one and I'll give one to you."

"Actually, can I have more of the Monster Candy?" She asked. "That is pretty good."

"Yeah, I thought it would have more of a blueberry taste. Here ya go, Faithful Frisky."

Frisky had more of it. Well. "You got me." She looked at him sideways. "Do I need to kiss your cheekbone still?"

"Geez, aren't you eager for me?" Sans teased her.

"I'm not eager for you." She could feel herself getting warm again. _No, stop that. This is not the time._ Sans was feeling jokey again. Probably from intercepting the disaster that was coming. If he didn't want to kiss her, were they still supposed to cuddle? And how come he didn't want to kiss her? Did she have bad breath? _Stop that. It's not like I wanted to be kissed._

"What's purple and pink and supposed to be all over on me?" Sans winked at her.

Mm? Maybe he did want to cuddle. _I have purple pajamas tonight but I'm not . . . dang._ She was blushing. She didn't comment as she came over to him. And heard his whoopie cushion go off. _No . . . no . . . no . . ._

"Not into long and silent nights, are you?"

Frisky couldn't help herself as she started laughing on top of him. "Sans! Quit doing that!"

"Are you kidding? Fart jokes are my number one thing with you. I am your Legendary Fart Master. Say it."

"No, I refuse."

"Say iiiiiit."

"No, I refuse."

"Aww, come on? It's not a ** _waste_** of time, so stop **_recycling_** the same line."

 _No, I absolutely refuse, I won't, and I can't. And I am not doing that?_

"Frisky Faith, I didn't know you could growl?" He winked. "Sounds like I'm **_barking_** up the right tree."

She scoffed. "Sans!" She made a whining sound. He kept causing her to react before thinking her actions out. _No, that just encouraged him! Why can't I think of the right ACT to do? How can I recover from this? And why does he just got this look like he is enjoying this more than anything in the world?_

"I usually prefer a brewski over a **_whine_** , but I'll make an exception. As long as your refrigerator is running."

"You're a dork." Frisky covered her mouth, unable to believe she just said that. Sans just kept making her lose her inhibition. "I am sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Yes, you did. I am a dork, but that's okay." Sans sat up and pulled her up closer to him, forehead to skull again. "'Cause you've got the ** _hots_** for dorks and I'm **_burning_** my way through you faster than a nerd does calculus."

Frisky couldn't even say anything as he just laid back down with her, cuddled closer to her, and fell asleep. _No way. He's not right, is he? There's a different reason I can't control my ACTs around him. Right?_ Her cheeks were burning so hot, if anyone touched them, they would think she was running a fever. _He's a Monster. Humans don't like Monsters._ Her heart was beating awfully fast too. Could he actually feel that? _No. I have to get these ACTs under control. After all I have to pretend that . . . that . . ._ that she willingly loved him so much, they already had another baby inside of her.

And he was going to eat up her ACT tomorrow, like it was actually her. And that could break his heart. _No, of course he won't. He knows ACTs_ _very well. I do what it takes to win. He knows exactly what I have to do._

At least she didn't have to worry about his own ACTing skill. He clearly had that down to an art.


	50. Land of Magic and Make-Believe

**Mettaton's Show . . .**

Minimal ACT. In this case, the ACT had it's best chance of working if it remained on the low end. Toriel was even there, making sure the charade of her being pregnant worked. There was one more thing Frisky could have added to ensure a win, but after talking to Toriel, she only kept it on standby. It was a last resort secret weapon because to use it too casually with Sans . . . well, it wouldn't be right. There was ACT and there was cruelty.

"Awwwwwww! It's soOoOoo cute!" Mettaton said looking closely at Chance in Sans' arms. "Can we get a closeup of this? It's just precious! And so rare, not another Classic Monster baby Skeleton even exists anymore! One of a kind. Like me!"

"Well, yeah, sort of." Sans shrugged, also knowing to stay on the low end was key. They would have a couple high moments, but mainly keep it low key since this charade had to last past the camera. It had to last until the Crossing territory was established.

"What do you mean sort of?" Mettaton asked. "Isn't he the only one?"

"Um. Yeah, kind of."

"Well, what do you mean by . . .oOoooOOoohh! You're kidding me?!" Mettaton rolled over to Frisky. "Are you carrying another Monster baby?"

"Um." Frisky stayed silent but caused herself to blush, thinking of the line Sans gave her last night. It was the best way to blush on cue.

"It is," Toriel said as she approached Frisky. "She is still getting used to the idea again."

"Wowwowowow! Saaans the Skeleton? You are going to have two baby Skeletons soon?" Mettaton cried out.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Sans shrugged again. "King Asgore gave me three months before he okay'd Chance there as counting."

"Goodness. It's usually sooo tough," Mettaton said. "How did you manage that?"

"Oh, it was tough!" Sans gestured to Frisky. "Humans are awful shy of their bodies. It took my friends to help her get comfortable getting undressed in front of me. But, it was way worth it." Sans winked at Frisky. "Wasn't it Faith?" He looked back toward Mettaton. "After that, it was super easy because sex was really enjoyable. She couldn't keep her hands off me."

Frisky walked over behind Sans. "Sans," she chuckled. "My husband is the funniest Monster in Snowdin. The truth is while the enjoyable sex helped, it's his humor that sets him apart from anyone else. He . . . kind of has a way to bring about my inner Friskiness. No one else can do what he does."

"I am number one there," Sans agreed.

"The only thing is, I wish he'd wrap some of the jealousy up. He already has me." She leaned against him softly. "There's no reason to be jealous anymore."

"Oh?" Sans chuckled softly. "Yeah, you and Friskarino, huh?" That was a little too hard. "Past that."

"What do you mean?" Frisky asked him. "Sans, I never had a thing with Friskarino."

"Then who?'

"Farrisk. I was young and naive, still learning the ropes. He was all about action and taking charge. But, don't worry." She patted his bony hand. "That's a thing of the past." There. Part of the Act complete. Although, Sans was very good at his role too. Very good. "Um?" She looked to Mettaton. "Only a few days of marriage. These things take time. I guess, that's why marriages take so much work."

"Tori, take Chance." Yeah. Sans was really good at ACT. That would make the next part easier.

"Yes, it's great to hear the sex is easy and enjoyable but all those past things tend to sneak up making it complicated," Mettaton agreed.

"Did he see you naked?"

"What?" Okay, they were past that part. It was time to move on. "Of course not. Passing Fancy." She hugged him on the side and touched the top of his skull delicately. "You know that no one makes me feel the way you do. No one has ever held or kiss me the way you do." Good, he was holding her back. Hugging her actually. "And I will never allow anybody to touch me the way you do, Sans."

"Awww. Oh, you have to smooch! The audience is dying over here!"

Bingo. "Sans? Close your eyes and open your mouth." He didn't though. Instead he wrapped her firmly around the waist and dragged her closer in, stealing her already opened mouth for a kiss. Okay, she was good at ACTing and could work with that. She wrapped her arms tighter around the fuzzy collar of his coat and leaned in ever closer. She felt his bony finger on her jaw, trying to open it more. Which was new. She usually only let him in part way. But, it was an ACT. A complete ACT. _Why does he always have to be such a good kisser?_ His tongue was always a little curious, probing here and there. But, whenever he had kissed her, it felt more like he was searching. This time it didn't feel that way. There wasn't a desperate calling to it, it was more like a gentle wave of pleasure, simply taking it easy and enjoying the ride . . .

"That was a pathetic ACT, Frisky."

That wave of pleasure instantly stopped though once Conner appeared in front of her. _Not him._

"Cute. Hope you can do that little thing with me later too." Conner winked at her and held up a paper. "So, Sans the Skeleton? Is your wife really pregnant? And you better tell the truth."

"Of course I am." He must have known about the various ways and was performing his own ACT. Stepping on _hers_ in the process. "Queen Toriel checked."

"Great. Fantastic. That means this little contract Sans the Skeleton signed takes effect if you are lying," Conner said, waving a small paper. "Ya see? Sans?" Conner winked. "Forgotten timeline contracts still matter if they are taken out of it."

"What?"

"Read it and weep little dude." Conner tossed the paper to them. It awkwardly hit the floor. "You made that deal in a forgotten timeline so you could marry her. Not that you remember. Besides, you probably thought you'd be real careful on the second. But, that is a Compromising contract. And once the Underground goes under Compromising? Yeah, I'll be watching."

"I would never sign this." But, it was his signature. Half lazy at the other end, barely making it to the word Skeleton.

"If you wanted Frisky bad enough from me, you would have. And you did." Conner pushed some buttons on his MP. "Don't bother engaging a fight. I'm just letting you know the score. Once Compromise comes, and if Frisky's darling second Skeleton doesn't come to term-"

"You get Chance and her back?!" Toriel shouted. "Impossible!"

"Ridiculous!"

"Hey! Welcome to reality, Monsters. You want freedom, learn to pay the toll. Any contract made in any Compromising District must be honored. In fact, I won't even fight you Sans the Skeleton. Contracts will include heavy hard Balancers, and as many as it takes to get _what is mine_. So, I really hope you're carrying Frisky, and hope it comes to term. But if not? Go ahead and keep practicing stuff with your husband. Because I'll be yours soon, and then you can practice with me."

Sans made to strike, but apparently Mettaton wasn't pleased with him either. He couldn't get near him though. His MP made some kind of shield around him.

"Honor ain't shit outside the Underground. It's contracts that rule the world. In fact, I'll probably just put Frisky under contract of Concubine. So I can screw her over and over, along with whoever else I want. Cheers!" He pressed a couple of buttons on his MP and left.

"Well! That was, that was, that was, sooooOOOOoooOOoooO horrible!" Mettaton shouted. "How do you all feel about that? A Compromising District doesn't have any honor at all. Such vicious . . . oOooHOOoh! I can't take it. This show is over until I get my **_must kill humans_ **self back under control!"

"Wait?" Toriel looked at the contract again, but Frisky swiped it. She glanced at it. "Why did that-"

Frisky briefly looked at it and crumbled it up. As she thought. _There is winning and there is cruelty, Conner! That is the reason I would_ ** _never_** _go to you._ She looked toward Sans.

Heartbroken. Confused. His little eye lights were darting all around in wonder, not understanding any of it. _Sans_. The one whom the Underground's games hurt the most. Who was just starting to learn to live again. _No._ Risky or not, she didn't care. This was no longer for an ACT.

Frisky walked over, picked up her secret weapon, and hugged Sans. Mettaton was gone now, the cameras probably weren't even on. There was no one to display a show for. Just him. Just comforting him, that's all she wanted to do. "That's why Conner's a higher soldier," she whispered next to his skull. "His ACTing is brilliant. I do what it takes to win. He does what it takes to _annihilate_. Don't give away anything, okay? Our ACTs still count, he just added a sicker top to the cake. His MP changed an old tab of Grillbys into an illusion piece. Everything is fine. Okay?" She felt him nod. "It will be okay. Chance and I are not going anywhere."

She felt Sans hold her tighter, and knew from the bony fingers she felt in her hair, he recognized it. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe it wasn't. Sans just pulled something different out of her than anyone else did, and smart or not. The right ACT or not. She just . . . had to. "My Legendary Fart Master, it was all one big trick and everything will be okay dokay, okay?"

Anything. _Some_ kind of word that he understood Conner's position was his own ACT to get the monsters to pick Solo. Conner knew so much more than she did, was trained so much better in so many aspects. He knew the pride of Monsters and how to make them bend to command. He knew how to act like an idiot to avoid fights and suspicion. And he knew the worst tactic of them all and used it.

Honor. Contracts replacing honor, replacing the ability to fight for a Monster's family or honor.

"Just a word?" She asked. "Please, Sans. Please?"

"Yo, hey, it's okay."

Finally! She squeezed him harder but felt his bony finger wipe her cheek. _Hmm?_

"Sorry, Frisky Faith, I kind of went to another spot there for a second. Monster instinct can be kind of tough sometimes. But, don't do that." He pulled her away from him a little bit to look more at her. "Don't get all sad. I was closer to trying to think how to find that little twerp and kill him for that ACT more than I was sad. So don't be sad."

Her breath just came all out at once. Thank goodness he understood. "You're okay?"

"How can I not be?" He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. "You finally used my loving name. You're even wearing our wedding's echo flower wreath. Boy! _You_ just landed yourself in some deep trouble."

Apparently. "I couldn't think of how to ACT exactly right. I just wanted to . . ." His little eye lights were so calm and cheery. "I just wanted you to feel better. You looked so lost. I didn't want you to think any of that was actually true. Like I said. Conner's a schmuck. Chara probably leaves him alive just to do . . . her . . . not so wholesome work."

"Speaking of getting **_dirty_** , we better **_clean_** up this ACT. King Asgore is coming," Sans whispered to her, holding her tighter. While they were hugging though, she noticed he said something peculiar that she didn't understand.

"Why'd it take years?"

"Why'd what take years?" Frisky asked until King Asgore approached. Behind him was Mettaton.

"That. Was. Horrifying." King Asgore appeared beside them. "That is what I am leading the Underground into just to be free? Sickening contracts of trickery where anything is possible?" He lowered his head. "Enslavement is bad enough, but, to take our very essence. Our will of fight and honor and-"

"There is another option, later in four months," Toriel said to him as she came over. She took a deep breath. "Let's talk, Asgore. Not as wife and husband, but as King and Queen of the Underground."

King Asgore looked over toward Sans. Almost . . . jealously. " _You_ used to wear your wreath every day for our first 500 years, Tori."

"Asgore," Toriel said firmly. "Let's talk. Now."

* * *

 **At Sans' Post** **, One Week Later** **. . .**

Being a Solo territory was the best option, but work was more boring than ever. After King Asgore and Queen Toriel told the populace they would be Solo because of the extremely dishonorable things inside a Compromise territory, hardly anyone left. A few months wait and then they'd be Crossing territory.

Great. Back on track. Chance was still maturing, able to move both hands now. The only real good thing was that he could work on jokes with Frisky. Her laughing always brightened up his day.

She was holding Chance gently, rocking him. They had his safety crib beside him too. Always did, just in case her or Sans didn't want to hold him. At least, that was the excuse he used.

Frisky was so perfect there all the time. She was getting more used to Chance's new change. She looked perfectly natural.

"Hey, Sans! Thought I'd stop by and see what it's like to get paid watching snow?" One of his friends said as they waved. "Haven't seen you down in Grillby's in a little while. How are things going with your wife?"

"Good. Great. Never been better." His friend still looked a little concerned. Monsters tended to share much more than that, but it wasn't happening. What was he supposed to say? "Money's a little tight right now. Maybe later. Frisky's a good cook though, _way_ makes up for it." Sans winked. "Tonight we are having pork fajitas."

"Really? What's a fajita?"

"Fajitaing up later for lunch tomorrow too." He heard his friend laugh and looked toward Frisky. Cracked smile. _Arg._

Sans just waved bye at his friend but went over to Frisky. "Frisky Faith? How's it going?"

"Fine."

Ah, usual response. "You are. Too bad you're stuck with me."

"Hm?"

Sans jingled his bony hands in his coat. The human lust drive and Monster drive had been at war with each other ever since he saw her put on their wedding wreath. He'd been working her over for at least a week and he should be able to bag a date soon, but it wasn't what either drive was wanting. _Date. Go for the date. Don't be stupid, she's human. So what if we're married and by now we really should be sleeping with nothing between us. Who cares if no other couple in the history of the Underground still keeps their clothes on between each other at night._ He tapped his slippered foot. _Her against me. Me against her. That's how it's supposed to be, and it drives the Monster in me crazy._

He turned his attention back to the snow. _That human drive though too._ Sex was supposed to be more of a chore between Monsters. It was just being near each other that was the bonding that made sex great, but his human drive just wanted to clamor for her already.

How was he supposed to express his Monster need to be near her so close, without the human side interfering? "Lovely day outside for humans to be freezing to ** _death_** in. Makes me feel so **_alive_**." He looked back toward her. He had set his mind on an automatic joke, but just realized what he said. "Ooh, backfire." He chuckled nervously. "Sorry, I used to get my stuff checked first. _Aaaah_ _, how could I have said that one without thinking?!_

"Yeah. Sorry. King Asgore can't make you do anything against your will anymore, Sans. You should go see her," Frisky insisted. "She was always much better at puns and things. Mine just come during trouble." She rocked Chance some more. "He's using each hand even more today."

"Right and left hands. He should be starting his feet soon. Right foot, left foot. Unless he's got two left feet, that could make everything awkward." No. Too wordy. She didn't even sense the joke in that one. _Come on, Sans! You're the funniest guy in_ _Snowdin_ _, land this! Get this and then maybe . . ._ "So, Water you doing later? Cause I was thinking we could Fallow each other around in Waterfall tonight?"

"But? Don't I usually go with Friskarino and Friskay, and you hang out with Farrisk for sparring?" She asked.

"Um. I'm not sparring tonight," he said. "Eight, after you hang out with the Frisks. Papyrus can watch Chance for the night."

"For the night?"

"Um, hour. For the time we're gone." _Smoooth_ _, Sans. Geez._ "Come on. One night **_off_** to get it ** _on_**. I mean, with each other! No, one night to have fun with each other. Where the weather's not freezing your skin and you are cuddled up over in the corner all the time trying not to die."

"Um. Doesn't that make you feel alive?" Frisky asked.

 _Damn. Damn. Damn. "_ Off, I am so off today. I am just not real on the ball today. Sorry."

"Oh? Oh." Frisky sighed. "Really, you should see Toriel. She's much better at turning you on."

"Much better at what?"

"At . . . at joking back with you," Frisky said. "Um." She rocked Chance again quietly.

Joking back with . . . _Hang on, missing something._ Wait. "I don't need you to joke back with me." How did he not see that?

"Yeah, but, you're always joking with me," she insisted. "I can't joke back real good. All I can do is smile."

"Not always. Sometimes you laugh." He came around her on the other side. "That's all I really need. Do you go and make Grillby burgers or do ya just eat 'em and tell Grillby they are good?" He touched his skull. "Wow, I'd burn a house down figuring that one out. Or Mettaton? He doesn't want someone as loud and brash and entertaining as him. He wants his audience clapping for him."

"So . . ." Frisky stopped rocking Chance. "You don't mind that I'm terrible at jokes?"

"Nah, makes it better. I don't have to one up you." He reached his bony fingers out toward her chin. "All I need is your little laugh to get a big kick out of you." He pulled his bony fingers back. "So. Waterfall?"

"Sure. Waterfall."

"And then . . ." He couldn't get her confused that it was a thing between friends. Not this time. "Maybe we could split a burger at Grillby's on the date? I got paid today. On this date. For the date." There. There we go, she _had_ to have gotten that one.

"Oh. Um."

Blushing! Turning his favorite color of pink. Or it suddenly got extremely cold. Or a little colder. Was it colder or was she blushing?

"Okay," She agreed. "After I see the Frisks tonight. Um." She rocked Chance again. "It's . . . a date."

* * *

 **Waterfall with the Frisks, one hour before date . . .**

"Oh my, noooo!" Friskay grabbed her head as Frisky told her about what happened. "Okay? Reality calling? He's a Monster!"

"He's . . . he's my husband and the father of my child," Frisky came back on her. "I know it's a little strange, but I can't help it."

"Hello? I mean, at least if a human goes after a Monster, they wouldn't go after a bare bones Skeleton! You ** _know_** how those things are! They are the worst, Frisky!"

"He's a Classic Monster, not a Balancer." Frisky touched an echo flower delicately. "He isn't like the others."

"Difference?"

"Funny for starters," Friskarino stood up for her. "Not, you know, trying to destroy everything he touches. Sans is a good guy."

"Uh." Farrisk nodded. "I've been sparring with him for a week. Just like when we were FRISK, he never attempted to kill me."

"Oh not you too," Friskay scoffed. "Farrisk, you're supposed to be the most normal of all of us!"

"And there are some good Balancers. Skeletons are also registered monsters on the allied ships," Frisky reminded her. "Not everything is . . ."

"Should have gone to Conner. I knew you should have gone to Conner." Friskay walked back and forth. "If I wasn't so kind, I just would have offed you. Do you have any idea what you could be doing?"

"Everyone already believes I am carrying a natural Monster," Frisky said as she sat back up. "It's been a whole week since then, and nothing has happened."

"Because you're contained in a Solo Territory. It won't stay that way." Friskay shook her head. "No, geez! I am not going to go down this road with you!" She grabbed Frisky's hand. "Stop it right now you idiot! He's a freak! He never opens to talk and-"

"-and I don't care!" Frisky pulled her arm back away. "I just don't care anymore. I don't know if I ever really did. I mean, I've been down here I don't know how long. Even Chance always wished he was a Monster. I've never met any nice guys as good as Sans. You introduced me to Farrisk and Friskarino, but that's it, and they are great. But?" She watched Farrisk pat Frisakarino's back almost tenderly. "What is that?"

"That's . . . that's nothing." Friskay looked toward Friskarino. "Right?"

Friskarino took a step away. "Don't go there, Friskay. Sans and her have belonged together since the beginning."

"What are you talking about?" Frisky looked between the three of them.

"We got MP 20's before we met you as the fake Mettaton," Friskay said, "and, Friskarino unlocked them to find something new-"

"Friskay!" Friskarino shouted. "Stop. Things have changed."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Friskay shrugged. "Fine, go ahead. Get romantic with the little bonehead. Just promise us _one_ thing? Don't ever have sex with it."

"Uh?" Frisky took a step back. "I am really at my wit's end with you, Friskay."

"Nah, you really should listen on that one." Farrisk got closer to Friskay.

"What?" She watched Friskarino even more on the other side of Friskay. "Friskarino? You never side with Friskay."

"I'm not. I think you and Sans will be great together," Friskarino said. "Monster and a human and a baby and a caring brother all living under one house. You know, even some-some romance. Hey, that's fine. It's just that . . . you don't want to go creating another baby, Frisky."

"In fact, I still think we all agree," Farrisk said to her. "We would have rather been **_enslaved_** by Sans then you make that ACT on Mettaton's show. You should have told us."

Friskay just grabbed her head. "Friskarino thinks I can be romantic, but not be with him. Friskay is against him, just calling him creepy like always. And you guys keep telling me we chose the wrong option to try and save ourselves. But you won't tell me why!" She had no ACT left but to shout. "Why?"

"You don't want to know." Friskay tried to touch her. "Why? He's so creepy? Little flashing lights and you're such a freaking weirdo, why couldn't you just ever-why **_can't_** you just ever . . . just listen to me?"

"Because all three of you. I _know_ you are hiding secrets. I don't know what you guys know, or what you think you know." Frisky pointed at Farrisk. "I don't know why you are sparring. I'm going to assume that Sans is trying to defend against what could come after me. But why you are agreeing with these two is beyond absurd." She pointed at Friskay. "He's not freaky or creepy. I don't know what you see but . . . he's always been kinda cute. With his teeth and his lights. When he's calm especially, it's almost like the natural bug lights around the echo flowers. Not that any of that matters. I mean, I know it's tricky to get used to the idea but?" She shrugged. "We're all just souls. Monster, Balancer, human. The only thing that really counts, down deep, is the soul."

She walked over to Friskarino. "You have been on my side since the beginning, Friskarino. You helped Sans get back to me. You were the one who helped during the Soul Bearing. Why are you saying this _too_?"

"Look, just . . ." Friskarino looked away. "Friskay's lying. I didn't find it." He looked toward her. "She did. It was an accident. She didn't share it for a long time."

"Find what?" Frisky looked over toward Friskay. "What?"

"Look, you know there's just a curse Underground between a Monster and a human. It's just that way. You know that. We've all known that. You've seen all the records, reports, and findings. Seriously, it never turns out well," Farrisk said to her. "You've got Chance. He's safe now. Right? He's not, like, he still has black in his soul, right?"

Frisky looked away a moment.

"Oh. Wait. Does he have?" Farrisk stared at her. "Does he have grey with blue?"

"What the HELL?!" Friskay shouted. "And you were going to tell us this when?!"

"He's fine. He's a baby. A baby Skeleton, can barely move his hands," she said, stepping backward. "Really. There's nothing to fear. You guys _know_ he's not natural. It's just something strange that happened when he changed into a Skeleton. Nobody can predict what happens to a Conduit."

She moved away slightly, but then quickly barreled toward Friskay, shoving her finger into her face. "Don't come after Chance! Sans would kill you, and in this case, so would I! Chance is _my_ son. He's not natural, and he's not a danger to anyone!"

"Frisky, you should know-"

"No!" Friskay turned around and gut punched Friskarino. "Don't even start! It doesn't make a difference at this point. Leave it be." She wiped her nose. "We won't come after Chance. Have fun on your date."

"You better not. I _mean_ it. He's fine, it's just a Conduit thing," she tried to make them understand. "And, really. Stop worrying about Sans so much." She just shook her head. "After this many thousands of generations, do you really think a Monster and a human could have a baby naturally without some kind of scientific help?" She turned away. "It would need heavy, heavy magic help. And with that kind of power interference, it shouldn't matter either."

"Yeah. Just a little magic. Not a whole lot. Just a little." Farrisk looked between them all. "Have fun, Frisky."

* * *

 **Waterfall, The Frisks, without Frisky anymore . . .**

"Should have told her. Gut punch?"

"Shutup! I am KINDNESS." Friskay's throat was deep but dry. "This is the kindest thing we can do for her. Chance is freed. None of us have the heart to kill him. Just let her live it up with the little guy."

"We know Chance," Farrisk said, shrugging and coming closer to them. "It's probably fine. The kid's been great so far."

"As a human. With a _limited soul,_ unable to repair itself," Friskarino said back to him. "I liked Chance. He was great. Best Frisk ever. But, when he starts to get mobile?"

"Sans and Frisky are going to raise him just fine," Farrisk said again. "Look. Okay, maybe we should talk to Sans. If we don't want to break Frisky's heart, then we should tell him."

"Oh yeah? I'm sure he's going to destroy his own son," Friskay rolled her eyes.

"I don't think he has too. He just has to guide Chance through the delusions. That's all." Farrisk looked at both of them. "Sans handles a lot of stuff. I think he could do this. If he doesn't, 04823 will get inside Chance's head, if he hasn't yet."

"04823 takes him over and brings him back home to him, forcing mommy to go after him and snatch her up again. Or, Chance goes on a GENOCIDE rampage. Sounds like a ball. I did not want to root for the bad guy," Friskay said.

Friskarino looked toward the sky. "This . . . this just really sucks."

"The fact that Chance is about to destroy the world, or the fact that you just let the girl of your dreams leave to probably get screwed by your best friend in a new timeline again?" Friskay teased.

"You are so evil sometimes!" Friskarino shouted at her. "Forgotten timelines don't matter! The both of you, shut up about it." He ruffled his hair. "We've always just been friends in this timeline, and that's all that matters. Shoot, we even shared the same body for over ten years. I just couldn't. And I wouldn't." He sighed. "Not many missions left before I'm out of here, in a civilization, where I can meet new girls."

"Yeah. Hope you find a girlfriend before we all die," Friskay cheered him on. She looked over toward Farrisk. "What do you think? You think Sans can actually reach Chance in time if we warn him? And, will the little funny guy be able to keep his hands off of Frisky for an eternity if he knew the truth?"

"Honestly?" Farrisk shrugged. "He broke FRISK once. It's the same concept. If he can save Chance, he'd handle any other one just as well. He is getting strong. I mean _really_ strong. And, if we can get past the first natural generation gap, then maybe this whole thing will be over. The conduits, re-resets, and humanity. It'd all be wiped out eventually. The future would just be natural from this point on. No more experimention on the soul. We'd all just be happy souls again, all united. True peace with true love like it was thousands of generations ago." He looked toward Friskarino. "Sorry, dude."

"For the last time. Forgotten timeline. I don't even remember it." Friskarino walked away from them. "I think our only option left is to tell Sans. He stopped FRISK before, he can do it again."

"I second that opinion," Farrisk said.

"I think that if we just kidnap Chance mere seconds before GENOCIDE and teleport him over on the other side of the lab, a lot of shitty Balancers would at least get wiped out instead of the Classic Monsters or the okay ones of Snowdout before the end of it all." Friskay looked at them both. "Or I can leap into the imaginary land of magic and make-believe with you guys and say true love conquers all?"


	51. A Tall Sink to Overcome

Keys for who's talking when we visit The Darkness, it's hard to see.

 ** _Bold and Italics: Flowey_**

Underline: 04823

 _Italics: Chance_

"Regular Quotes"- Sans, Papyrus, and Flowey.

* * *

 **The Darkness . . .**

"Did you get it straight?"

"Yep."

 _What is that?_ Chance still couldn't see. He could move both his hands now a little, but the rest was still numb. _That sounded like Sans._

 ** _Hey there, bony butt! How are you feeling?_**

 _That voice._ _Flowey_ _?_ Chance moved his hands again.

 ** _No worries. Your mom and dad and all the Underground are just fine. So, you're hearing without hearing? Progressing well. I thought you might be popping up like this. But, hey! I've dealt with worse things. I think. It's been thousands of years, I'm sure I have._**

 _Flowey_ _? Please help me! I can't move and I can't leave this place! Can Sans hear me? Can Uncle Papyrus?_

 ** _Big no on that. You're kind of a lost soul right now. So, only I can communicate_** ** _'cause_** ** _. Well, I'm sort of that too._** **_But, you're starting to get it back together. Slowly. Which is good. Listen, bony butt, you're a Skeleton now. Congratulations!_**

 _Oh. I did it? I am?_

 ** _Yep! But, listen._** ** _Uhh_** ** _. . . you're kind of stuck, but soon you'll be free again._** ** _With_** ** _, um, a lot of power? Let's discuss that. It's better not to tap into that. The more you do, the more delusions you'll have. And delusions are bad. Don't attack them. Okay? Listen to your friend,_** ** _Flowey_** ** _. Delusions could be good or bad, so don't attack. Okay?_**

 _I don't understand?_

 ** _Hm. Okay! Remember when your mommy tried to explain about bad and good FRISK? Did she? I don't know if she did. Parents never share much._**

 _What do you mean,_ _Flowey_ _?_

 ** _Look, once Frisk started murdering Monsters, it was a little hard to stop sometimes. Did your mommy ever go over that?_**

 _No._

 ** _Ugh! Of course not. Fine, uh. Ooh! Candy. Kids love candy. If you saw some free candy and saw a sign to take a piece, you'd take one. But, if it was like really good, you'd think you could get more? So you just keep going until it falls on the floor? Well, you might be feeling a lot of power and it's kind of like candy. Once you start tapping it . . . it might make a mess on the floor._**

 _I still don't get it._

 ** _Okay. Um. Hey, Smiley_** ** _Trashbag_** ** _Junior_** ** _, how you feeling? Cold? Warm?_**

 _Warm, but it's cold on the outside. I feel it every once in awhile. Then, my body goes numb. Except my hands. I can move my hands. Am I really a Skeleton,_ _Flowey_ _? When can I get out of here?_

 ** _Well, uh, leaving is like candy. Like I said, you'll feel that power. But um. Hey, I know! How about once you feel that power, you just think happy thoughts? Maybe? Because you don't want to tap it that fast. Maybe like a foot a week, and then maybe move a whole arm, and after a couple of months, flip over?_**

 _That long? I don't want to be here_ _that long! I want my momma!_

 ** _No, no. Look, hey, I'm here? You're not alone._**

No. He isn't. 

**_Oh. Other company still, huh?_**

Don't worry about him, Chance. He's an evil little flower. He's really manipulative. We went over this, didn't we? 

**_Listen you stupid Balancer. That is_** ** _beyooond_** ** _stupid. This little magic fire ball is going to be too much for you to handle. Leave him alone._**

Manipulative. Evil little flower. You don't want to stay here forever, do you, Chance? 

**_It's not forever, it's just months. Okay, look, I'm right here. Your friend_** ** _Flowey_** ** _! It won't be lonely._**

He could be a delusion. He just said don't follow delusions. 

**_You can hear without hearing. You tapped into some power and heard your dad and Uncle adjusting a black bowtie. He's going out with your mom. I even know the words you heard. I doubt the other one can say that._**

. . .

 ** _Look, I'll visit you at least once a day. Everything will be fine. Your daddy will get strong enough to visit soon too. I promise! Really soon, he'll have the power he needs to tap into the depths of magic it'll take to visit you._**

 _How come I can't hear him? I feel so . . ._

 ** _Don't get scared. Stay happy. Everything's okay. The lost kind of darkness you are in, it's just the same thing Sans told you about. It's just a lot, lot deeper with a few more hundred thousand tumbles than you should have gone. But, hey._** ** _Listen to_** ** _Flowey_** ** _! Things are good, Chance. Beat this, and you're free. No one will ever jump in you again._**

Never. You will always be a conduit.

 ** _Don't listen to him._**

He's an evil flower. Manipulative, evil flower. 

**_I am inside your Uncle Papyrus' room_** ** _'cause_** ** _I got moved up for good behavior! Come on. Listen, Chance_** ** _. Please. Don't let this evil thing bite me again. Don't be like Tahoe. Kid, kid, kid, please._**

"I still don't get it. Why are you wearing that with that?"

"I like the coat. I added the bowtie, that's pretty good, right?"

 ** _Uh, no. Don't tap that power like that, Chance! Remember Monster candy? Just, be good. Don't do that. Grow slow. You'll get there, I promise. Really. You don't want to listen to the other voice. Sans saved you from him, remember?_**

Shitty damn flower. 

**_See? And, Sans trusts me enough to be in a similar room with your little self._**

 _My little self?_

 ** _Yep, you're a_** ** _babybones_** ** _right now. Your mom and dad rock you all day long. You're never actually alone. That's the warmth your feeling. It's not from power, okay? So, let's just tap that power real lightly. Okay? And,_** ** _Flowey_** ** _will visit you each day! Yippee! Right?_**

 _Um. That other guy was scary. He almost killed me._

 ** _Ex_** ** _actly! And I didn't try that. I also didn't cuss either. That's so mean. So?_**

What if he's lying though, Chance? Open your vision. See without seeing. 

**_No! Look, too much, too fast. At least three months before you should do that._**

See? The flower is scared you'll realize the truth. 

**_No, the flower is scared you might do something kind of bad with too much magic. Just, listen to Uncle_** ** _Flowey_** ** _now._**

Just reach deep inside. Trust me, reach deep inside and try to 'see'. Just a second. Just a try. 

**_Chance, no. Be a good boy. That's what your mom would say, right?_**

He said it himself. Monster candy. You only need one piece. Take the piece? Try it.

* * *

 **Papyrus' Room . . .**

"Uh, Smiley Trashbag?" Flowey questioned as Sans made sure his coat and bowtie were on right. "We need to talk before you head on out."

"Huh? About what?" Sans asked right before he heard Papyrus yell.

"Did you see it?" Papyrus went over by Chance's crib and picked him up. "Oh my gosh, Sans! He opened his eye sockets! It was just a second, but I know I saw it."

"That's kind of impossible," Sans said as he came over there. He jiggled Chance's bony finger. "Are you doing impossible things again, My Kid?" He chuckled. "Or is your Great Uncle Papyrus seeing things?"

"I am not seeing things!" Papyrus said stubbornly. "I know I saw them. He has the little twinkly guiders like yours does."

"Sure." Sans touched his son's skull tenderly. "You get some more rest. Dad'll be back soon. He's out fishing for your mom's heart in Waterfall, and that's a big catch he doesn't want to lose." He looked at the time on his watch. Still, thirty minutes to go. "Do we have more than enough fajita for lunch tomorrow or just enough?"

"It's only half an hour and you are going to try to get any of the spare food?" Papyrus scoffed. "No way. Besides, I'm still studying it myself. I watched and observed this time, but there are a lot of steps to this one."

"I can leave you a few pieces to study."

"Not pieces, helpings."

"I can ** _help_** by leaving you a few pieces."

"Sans! Aren't you even going out for a Grillby burger afterward?"

"I'm splitting it though. Come on, I won't ruin my appetite."

"I don't think there is a way to do that."

As Flowey watched them leave the room, he reached his stems over to the crib. Grabbing it from the bottom he gently rocked it, back and forth. He had to figure out how to make the already six-year-old soul want to grow itself _slower_. He had hoped that it really was a fresh start. The whole thing would have been easier if Chance technically . . . well, let his memories die. Up until now, Chance hadn't shown any signs of being different.

But, Chance was no different. He still had his old memories, but he had so much power from the transformation, that his body saved itself by reverting back as far as it could. It was buried, into depths that only another lost soul could reach. Even Chara might even be too removed to reach him.

* * *

 **The Darkness . . .**

 ** _Do you feel that?_**

 _Flowey_ _?_

 ** _Do you feel that at all? I'm rocking you. See? You're safe. Just don't do that. You saw the truth, okay?_**

 _Rocking me. You mean this weird feeling on my hands with them moving?_

 ** _Yeah, ST Junior! That's rocking. Doesn't that take away some loneliness? Come on, you're a_** ** _babybones_** ** _, give me a break. That helps, right?_**

 _I don't like this. Flowey. I never get to have my body as a Conduit. I miss years. Years of my own life! But, at least I have others with me. Especially momma. I'm never really alone. But here, I feel so alone, and I can't move. I can't move again!_

 ** _Yeah but . . . but you're a Frisk? Isn't that what your mommy always says? You are Frisk. You save the day. Well, you can save the day by keeping the growth slow. Let your body adjust to it. If you rush it, you won't save the day._**

 _Oh. Frisk always saves the day. A Frisk makes the impossible, possible._

 ** _Right! There you go! Just keep thinking like that for your best friend, and only friend,_** ** _Flowey_** ** _! Don't listen to the other voice._**

 _Why?_

 ** _To save the day._**

 _No, I mean. Why do you sound like you're scared of me,_ _Flowey_ _?_

 ** _Scared?! Me, scared? Oh no, I'm not scared._**

 _I'm Frisk. I am trained in all kinds of things. Just_ _'cause_ _I'm six doesn't change that. Don't hide the truth from me. It doesn't make me trust you._

That's right.

 ** _Okay, okay. Look. Like I said. Grow too fast, bad things happen. Normally not a bad thing, but, you still have memories that are making you want to grow faster. And that's not good, ST Junior. History shows that a natural Monster and human can be real dangerous if power goes out of control._**

 _I know that,_ _Flowey_ _! I'm Frisk. I know the history. To this day, you can still see signs of its destruction._ _But, I'm far from_ _natural. Don't be scared._

 ** _Umm . . ._**

He's keeping something from you, isn't he? You feel it, Chance. You're Frisk, you can tell he's lying. He's an evil flower. Always keeping secrets. 

**_Okay. Okay, you have to know, but it's not my place. It's your dad's. Sans the Skeleton will tell you himself. I promise._** ** _Maybe even tonight? Just hang on, Chance. Just do your mom proud, and be a good boy. Okay?_**

Sure. And then, Flowey? What happens if Chance stays a good boy? Will everything be okay forever? Will he just wake up, the Frisk he always was, in a new little babybones body? 

**_You are a real pain in the side._**

It doesn't work like that, Chance. Even now, you are still being reborn. Even now, you are losing your memories. Losing yourself. If you don't push that power and reawaken soon, you won't be Frisk anymore. You'll be a brand new babybones with no memory of anything. It'd be like death. 

_What?!_

No mom. No dad. No Frisks. No achievements. No training. Imagine, having no memories of your own mother. Because it will be that. 

**_Stop it._**

Slowly, your mind will melt away. And the first thing to go will be memories of your momma. You think this darkness is horrible? Imagine having no memories of your mother to comfort you through it. No, everything. Everything that made you Frisk. You'll be nothing. A hollow shell. 

_**Everyone starts as a hollow shell, but you'll have new memories of your mom. Okay, that's it. Sans will visit you as soon as possible. Promise.**_

The flower isn't denying it either, is he? 

_Would it be like death?_

Worse. Like living, but being dead. 

"What are you doing? No, no, no!"

 _Uncle Papyrus?_

"Naughty, naughty flower! Keep your stems off of the crib!"

 **"Oh, no, no, stop that! Shoot, listen! I need to talk to Sans!"**

"Sans is off, and so are you. You are staying downstairs again you evil flower. Leave you alone two seconds and you try toppling my nephew's crib!"

 **"I was rocking him! I was trying to calm him, no, don't do that!"**

 _Flowey?_

Gone. See? They don't trust him after all. Your Uncle Papyrus even took him away. He is just an evil little flower. 

_But, you're evil too._

No, no. I was trying to save you this grief. I thought you'd come over and have no choice in this slow death, all alone, with no one around. Holding you in my arms was a better way to go. 

_No, I don't believe you!_

Did I ever strike you? Did I ever really hurt you? I wanted to let you have an easier, kinder death. Sans was the one who wanted the new beginning so bad. Honestly, Chance. Why would he want you as you were? You were a six-year-old human. There was no tie to him, really. He couldn't even call you son. Did he ever call you son? 

_No, but-_

He didn't care for you as a human. A human Frisk. Do you know how many times Frisk committed GENOCIDE against him? How many times he truly wanted nothing more than to just kill you? The only reason he even wanted to try a second chance with you as a Skeleton is because of your mother. Your mom, she completely sold herself out for him. She married him. She is going to eventually give you a brother or a sister for him. Keeping him satisfied, so that he'll keep you around. 

_That's not true. Sans is my friend!_

Flowey said it himself. Your mom is going out with him tonight. It's not just marriage. He wants everything. Except you, as you are. As a human. It's just too hard. You've done too much to him. 

_Nuh uh. Sans I-is my friend. A friend!_

Oh yes. Let's talk about this friendship. Let's talk about resets. And let's talk about all the different, subtle ways that you ruined his life. His spirit. Changed him. Made him wish for his own death. How many times you physically killed him, over and over. Yes. Let's have that honest chat that no one has really wanted to have with you. Starting with how many times you killed your own Uncle Papyrus . . .

* * *

 **Alphys** **Lab . . .**

"I think . . . maybe?" Frisky moved around in her dress. "I usually look okay in blue."

"I think you're pretty," Morning said as she came around the other side of the dress. "So you're dating Chance's dad now?"

"I miss Chance," Night said on the other side, walking past the two of them. "We hardly got to see each other."

"But you are both staying happy. That's all that matters," Alphys said as she brought over a big necklace. "Here. It's not the best. It might be too big looking. I was, you know, if I ever . . . I was gonna. Anyway, do you want to try it?"

Frisky shook her head. "No thanks. I don't think I have to get that gussied up. I don't even really know anything past the basics. I am not used to dates."

"But on Mettaton's show, you said that you'd been with one of the Frisks?" Alphys questioned.

"ACT. I worked out a small dialogue with Sans about what we should try. He is no slouch in ACTing either." Frisky looked at the time. "I don't really understand what this date should do. How it should bring us closer. I already spend all day with him at work. I feel like I am missing something." She sighed. "I wish any of my friends could have helped."

"So, they all turned their back on you?" Alphys tightened her grip on her necklace. "Sans is your husband and everything. Why would they be so mean? Even the one responsible for bringing you back turned his back on him. That was just unbelievable."

"It is. The weird thing is, Friskarino said I could have a romantic relationship with Sans. I just couldn't . . . um." Frisky shrugged. "I could not get intimate. They all wanted me to promise not to do that. This is the first time we've even _tried_ to go out as more than friends. And, and they drug that out."

"That is just . . . it's just . . . Monsters don't judge that way." Alphys shook her head. "I don't know if I'm mad or if I want to cry."

"I don't know. For humans, it's sort of . . . but . . ."

"Nah, nah. No excuses and no explanations needed. You look very pretty for your date. I hope it goes well!" She gave her a little hug. "You two really belong together."

"I hope. I don't know. This is still so new." Frisky touched her dress. "A soldier going out with no reason to. I am not used to this. Did I already say that?" She looked toward Alphys. "It should not be any different. I still don't understand what the purpose is to the date that working together didn't provide. Maybe, just to show that we have grown a little closer? Maybe?"

"Uh uh, don't think in ACT anymore. Just have fun."

"Yeah, you and Sans have fun," Chara appeared. "By the way, how's Flowey doing? Any troubles?"

"No, he's actually been pretty good," Frisky admitted.

"Great. How's my Bony Itty Bitty? He doing good and not evil?"

Frisky felt a little irritated by that. "Chara. He is fine."

"Yo, geez, relax," Chara said. "Frisks really did a number, huh?"

"Chance isn't even natural and they are scared." Frisky shook her head. "Why are they so scared?"

"I don't know, but ya know, there are forgotten timelines and mindwipes. Look how well you and Sans went together. Maaaaaybe there's a chance he was natural?" Chara winked. "Come on, Frisky. Never know."

"It couldn't be. Do you know how much human souls have been manipulated? Changed?" Frisky looked at her dress again, not knowing what else to do. "I have the special clothing for the date at least. I was not even nervous when I went out with Papyrus." Chara just laughed. "What?"

"Nothing, silly Frisk." Chara flipped around in the air. "What if he were natural though. What would you do?"

"There is nothing to fear. It takes something strange to happen what created before," Frisky insisted. "That was an extremely rare case, and it could never happen again. The Frisks are just seeing what they want to see."

"An extremely rare case? Natural?" Alphys looked between them, back and forth. "What do you mean?"

"Natural is the term for an itty bitty being made with old fashioned sex," Chara teased. "Well, without like tons of magic. A little goes a long way."

"Um, okay? But, I meant what extremely rare case?" Alphys asked. "Not that there's any reason to be worried, but, uh . . . could you elaborate?"

"Oh, just a half human, half Monster that was natural but experimented on going bat nuts. It wreaked havoc, GENOCIDE style. Jumped off buildings and skyscrapers like they were nothing, ran the speed of sound, and could kill anyone like a knife through butter. Literally, and according to pictures, just as gross. It's power was so massive, it needed to be tricked onto a satellite and hit with nuclear missiles to take it out. It was cute though, just an adorable little kid." Chara winked. "I'll show you a picture of him one day."

"Oh?" Alphys laughed nervously. "So, a natural that-"

"That has been experimented on. They used to exist just fine several thousand years ago," Frisky said again. "Not that it matters. Chance isn't natural. Even if he was, he would have gone berserk when he was just a baby. Right?"

"Um. I guess?" Alphys reckoned. "So, natural is fine."

"Yes."

"Just, afterwards. What kind of experimentation does it take?"

"I don't really know." Frisky watched Morning and Night playing in the corner. "I know there was hallucinogens but I don't know much else."

"But if you and Sans have another . . . I mean, I know this one you're carrying is a trick but . . ." Alphys patted her shoulder lightly. "So if you had others?"

Frisky just moved away. "Really? Our first date and you are pulling this too?"

"No, I don't mean you couldn't ever have sex or anything-"

"Not going there. It's almost time. I am leaving."

"Humans and sex, oh so timid," Chara teased before she left. She looked back toward Alphys. "Relax, Dino nerd. Everything's fine. Flowey would have told me something if he sensed anything yet. Bony Itty Bitty is just fine."

"That's . . . that's a dangerous game," Alphys said. "Does Sans know any of this?"

"Like Frisky said before, it used to happen _all_ the time. We just have to get over this hump and stop manipulating souls with magic and science. And then? Well, humanity is wiped out in the future because everyone will be a happier blend between human and Monster and Balancer or whatever." Chara waved her hand around. "And if Bony Itty Bitty does blow up, then most everything is wiped out. The few that remain can make a new beginning." She caught Alphys worried look. "Seriously? Flowey's been around him. If anything's wrong, he'd let me know. He knows how to catch my attention."

"But don't you know?"

"I know programs, I can hack into things nearby, and I can be a real pain to anyone coming near my barrier. But, I am still just attached to the barrier. I know things through technology. I can't reach inside souls the way I used to," Chara admitted. "But Flowey's near him. It's fine."

* * *

 **Sans' and Papyrus' Kitchen . . .**

"Hey, hang on!" Flowey shouted as he was left high up on the overly tall sink area. "What am I doing up here? I've been bad, send me outside!"

"I don't have time to take you out of a pot and put you in the windowsill, and I don't trust you _not_ to try to escape by the table to avoid Sans." Papyrus shook his finger at him. "You went too far. When Sans found out you actually touched the crib like that, he's not going to be happy either. Now, I have to go watch Chance. I warn you." He shook his finger at him again. "Be good!"

"But, I have to talk to Chara!" Flowey shouted again, watching Papyrus head up the stairs. "Okay. Great. So Chance has tapped his hidden power, has 04823 in his head again, doesn't trust me, and I can't get outside to contact Chara. Bad, bad, bad!" He struggled and jumped around in the sink. _ST Junior, can you hear me at all? Please?_ _Heeellloooooo_ _?!_ He was just too far away from the crib. _Please, Chance. Please hang on. Don't listen to the delusions. Don't listen to 04823. Don't. Listen. Just hang on until I talk_ _to your daddy. Please? Please?_

As soon as the date was over. As soon as Sans came back, he should be angry enough to come straight at him, and then maybe he could get him to take him outside to talk to Chara. He wouldn't want him inside. That would make sense. Just a little longer. Just to get through the date. Just to wait for one, simple date.


	52. Flowey Is Your Friend Til the End

**Waterfall . . .**

"Okay. I am here." Frisky looked at Sans. "You are wearing a bowtie?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd dress up a bit." Sans looked at her. "You wore a dress?"

"Special clothing for a date," she reminded him.

"Oh. Well, come on." Sans took her hand and started to walk. "So, Waterfall seems to be your place for everything around here, huh? Is there another reason besides the pretty flowers?"

"Why are we walking? We arrived at our destination," Frisky said. "Shouldn't you be pulling up extra boards and such to see how we are doing?"

Sans chuckled and shooed that idea away. "Sorry, Frisky, this isn't like with Papyrus. I date differently."

"How so?"

"No boards. No winner. This isn't like that. So? Waterfall?" Sans questioned again. "Why do you like it here so much?"

No boards. "Mysteries. How is this different than work then? Now I see no difference at all."

"For being a good ACT flirter, you're worse than me at this date thing. Which I thought was impossible." Sans shoved his other hand in his coat. "I asked you because I like you. I've been working up to this for a week, you know?"

"Why?" She was confused. "Papyrus asked me out straight away and I agreed yes. It only makes sense to see compatible charm."

"Already have compatible charm, but dating is the next step so that other things happen after compatible charm, Frisky." He stopped. "I could have just asked the first day?"

"Yes."

"A day or a week." He shrugged. "You'll figure it out."

"Okay. We are walking and talking. Besides the walking, this still seems like work." Sans touched his skull. He seemed annoyed. "Should I be flirting?"

"Throw ACT out the window. Now, what do you mean by mysteries?" Sans asked her. "What mysteries?"

"Simple things that don't make sense." Frisky looked around her. "The echo flowers catch people's voices. Why?"

"Um, don't know. They just always have," he answered back. "Hey, echo flower," he said to one of them. "Why you like voices so much?" He shrugged. "No answer."

"But if they catch voices, then that must have something to do with their purpose. So, why are they also under water?" Frisky looked toward him. He looked confused. "Echo flowers are also under water."

"Oh." He continued walking with her. "That's funny. Nobody really swims in Waterfall you know."

"I do. I love to see them underwater. Bubbles float from them too, when you get close. It must be some kind of sound coming through, like a voice, bubbling to the top." Frisky stood at the water's edge. "Why would echo flowers be underwater, and what voices did they catch?"

"Hey, neat." Sans used a little magic to bring the blossoms down to make them bloom and walkable on the water. "Never knew that. I guess I am falling for Waterfall too," he joked as they continued their walk.

"Yes, but, there are also the obvious shortcuts missing. Waterfall has many shortcut areas that look like it could have been something." Frisky pointed toward the top. "Look at the walls. Why walls here? They are only so deep, yet if a top was just laid perfectly across them . . ." She drug her hand through the air. " . . . from there to there . . . then you could attach a bridge perfectly right there. It only makes sense, it would save fifteen minutes or so just on this spot alone."

"Ummm . . ."

"I know you can only see this side, but if you could just think of the whole of the other spots in the underground. It would fit. Not only that, it would be a beautiful view of so many echo flowers. A nice bonus."

"Guess."

"Now what?"

"What?"

"Now what do you want to know?"

"Nothing. We're just walking."

"Oh. Is this it?"

"Yep."

"Just walking? This is the date?"

"Yep. I like things simple."

She walked side by side next to him, not saying anything. She watched the echo flowers as she went by, but it felt different than her usual walks. Walking with Sans, but not talking, felt different. No board. No winner. No loser. Just walking in Waterfall. All of the subtle sounds she used to hear filled her ears. There was nothing new to the sounds, but they seemed so much better walking with Sans. It was almost unnerving.

Actually, there was one new sound. The cute little almost inaudible sounds of Sans slippered feet walking next to hers. Without talking, there was nothing to do except focus on senses. The sense of touch was greatly bothering her.

Sans held her hand many times. She even lied down on top of him. But without going to sleep, or concentrating on an actual goal, she felt every bone in his bony hand. It was always so tough. If he wanted to, he could crush her hand so easily, yet he was just so incredibly gentle with her simple hand. But, that was Sans in a nutshell. A powerhouse of power, that didn't even care about it. He preferred the simple stuff. The simple life.

So different from so many others. Everyone she knew strived for the greatest things that they could get for themselves. He just wanted . . . the simplest of things and he was fine.

And that apparently included her, walking with him quietly in Waterfall. Without needing to. They spent all day together, yet, that was supposed to be. This was . . . unnecessary. It was an unnecessary time that he was choosing to spend with her. So. "I am a simple thing."

"Huh?"

She looked toward Sans. "Sorry. I did not mean to disrupt you." He just chuckled again.

"Not working real hard over here. Prefer the opposite." He kept his skull straight, but his little lights looked over toward her. "What do you mean by you are a simple thing though? 'Cause you Frisks are anything but simple."

And now, her thinking was confused again. She continued to walk, but tried to decipher it some more. He wanted to spend more time with her, more of his own time that was unnecessary, but she was not simple to him. She was complicated. Sans did not enjoy complicated things. "I am sorry, I did not mean to be so complicated."

"Kay?" Now he was confused. "I wish you'd share half of what's going on in your head over there?"

She was trying to figure it out too. Not simple, complicated, but he wanted to spend time with her. "I am someone who enjoys your jokes and company. I am not simple in myself, but spending time with me is simple." No, that wasn't quite it.

"Big old sign over my head flashing not getting it, Frisky," Sans said as they continued to walk. "Do you Frisks have to think 24 hours a day? There's no ACT. No reason to think. I just want to spend some time away from work with you. That's all. Chill."

 _I like Sans. He makes me feel different inside, and sometimes I have trouble controlling my ACT around him. I can't joke with him, but he likes that I enjoy his jokes. But,_ _Toriel_ _enjoyed his jokes too. In fact, everyone in_ _Snowdin_ _really likes him. When he's not trying too hard, his best material just falls out. But . . ._ Something. She was complicated. Why did he like her if she was complicated? _Oh yes. Centuries are a long time to be alone. That is what he said._ _He is trying to establish a stronger connection._ _It only made sense._ It did make sense. It made a lot of sense. And yet, at the same time . . . "I am annoyed with you."

Sans stopped walking and looked over at her. "What? What did I do?"

"Nothing." Still, she still felt _very_ annoyed. Why?

Sans scratched his skull. "You just said you were annoyed with me."

"I am. I am _very_ annoyed at you."

"Why?"

"I don't exactly know."

Sans looked at himself. "Was Papyrus right, I should have gone with something different than the coat?" He touched his bowtie. "I wore this for it. That's not bad, right?"

"It has nothing to do with the clothes." Frisky felt herself having a large ACT of glare and wanting to walk away. Yet, she didn't quite know why. Which was upsetting her even more. "It makes absolutely no sense, you've done nothing wrong that I see, yet I am still very annoyed with you!" She let go of his hand and walked away. "I need time to discover why I am annoyed at you."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House** **. . .**

Flowey was pretty good with his stems. It was a lot easier when there was ground to work with. All he had was his pot and a small area of window to try and cast for. The chances he didn't break his own pot wouldn't be good. First, he opened the window. He yelled at Papyrus again, calling him any name he could think of to get him to come throw him outside, but he wasn't listening. Reaching his stems to the window, he angled several more in different ways. What was usually a two-minute job took ten minutes because, like it or not, he didn't want to hurt his pot either.

Finally maneuvering himself enough to slide down his own stems, he reached the table. He pulled himself back together again and hopped over toward the window he had opened. The weather was cold, of course, but it didn't matter what the temperature was. He had to get out there and see Chara.

But, he stopped. "Shhh . . . oops." Flowey laughed nervously as Frisk came down.

Frisk. _Not_ the little cute babybones in the crib. Not the one that was human and less than half San's size. No. In his original sweater, blue with purple stripes. Full size, almost Sans size. The appearance of the one who saved and decimated the Underground daily for years.

Frisk. Walked down the steps.

"Hey! Hey, hey! Look who decided to wake up?" Flowey watched him come up closer to him. "Oh, hey, growing boy you be. So, even a flesh body too, huh? Boy, that's just great. Boy. That's . . . that's, just. Hi? Hey? Um, you didn't, you know, murder your Uncle Papyrus up there, did you?"

Frisk turned his head slightly. "Uncle Papyrus? No, he's sleeping." He tisked Flowey. "You are kind of an evil flower, but you were also turning good. But the other voice in my head was all evil. It was confusing. So, I decided to go with my Frisk instinct instead."

Well. It . . . it wasn't acting like a devil unleashed. Yet. "Great? What did you do?"

"I kept my eyes closed, ignored any and all advice and delusions, and just released all my power I felt at once." He patted his chest. "I was naked and I hurt my back on some weird crib, but I got up with little fuss." He pulled at his sweater. "Look, Flowey. It fits again. Pretty cool, right?" He patted his shorts. "I had to borrow a pair of Sans' shorts though. Just until I find some jeans that fit."

" . . . y-yeah?"

"Now I'm all better." Frisk looked at his hand. "It's still a little glowey." He shook his hand, trying to get it off. "Oh well. Maybe it will come in handy." He reached into the shorts and pulled out the locket, placing it around his neck.

"W-wait?" Flowey asked. "You're all better, so why not sleep it off instead of whatever you plan on using that locket for?" He watched Frisk pull the knife out of the other pocket and place it in the pocket the locket was in.

"That feels better." Frisk leaned closer to Flowey, pulling him up and placing him on his head. "How's the view?" He laughed. "Come on, Flowey. I need to find 04823. He's the one responsible for everything that's ever happened down here. He made me hurt a lot of Monsters, and people. And so much. And he hurt mom so much too, but . . ."

Flowey watched tears well up in his eyes. "Don't cry? Smile? Stay happy and let's go outside and see your Aunt Chara?"

"He wiped away a lot of memories, he told me. He told me, like, where I got the one scar on the back of my leg from. It's tiny, but white, but it never heals. It's cause my body was used against even momma's permission." He wiped the tear away from his cheek. "They just wipe momma's mind too when they used me like that. And, and I am not a toy." His foot stomped the ground, a small wave of blue light coming from it. "Oops. Sorry. I got a little angry. But, I should be angry. Anyhow." Frisk made his hand into a fist. "I am a Frisk, and my first priority is to save the day. 04823 is not going to hurt my momma ever again."

Flowey watched as they started to walk away. He looped his stem underneath Frisk's arms, just in case his pot fell. "Now, um, that's really your dad's job there, kiddo. Let Sans take care of him. I know he hurt you two really bad, but that's what a dad's for. Okay?"

"No way, this isn't Sans' thing. He defends the Underground. I am Frisk. I defend everything, big and small, no matter what." Frisk looked toward his head as Flowey bent down. "Don't worry. I'll use PACIFISM through the Underground. I'd never hurt anyone Flowey. Only 04823." He pulled out his knife and watched it start to glow blue too. "I can do it. I have the power."

"Yeah, you do, but it's dangerous!" Flowey insisted as Frisk ran out of the house. "Stop a second!" They were already at the edge of Snowdin. "You don't get it, the bad guy here isn't 04823."

"What do you mean?" Frisk's attention turned though as he saw a laser almost strike him.

"Whoa, hang on there!" Chara looked toward Flowey. "Hello? What am I, psychic? What's he doing out like this?"

"Not my fault, I tried to get to you!" Flowey shouted at her. "But then the Great Stupid Idiot Papyrus put me up high. By the time I got-"

"How are you?" Chara interrupted him. "Look powerful but not exactly evil."

"Of course I'm not evil, Aunt Chara," Frisk said.

"He woke up, fully. He's not delusional," Flowey said, "but, that's still not the best news."

"No duh. Oh, my Itty Bitty." Chara approached him closer. "I'm sorry, but you can't be out."

"I have to. I am keeping 04823 out of my head!" Frisk yelled. "I'm sorry, Aunt Chara, but I can't let him go! I'm PACIFIST but momma always warned me there might be a day where PACIFISM didn't work. It would be rare, but it would happen. Well, this is it."

"Kid, no, he is for your dad to deal with," Chara insisted. "You? You're not supposed to be up like this. It's not good, it's _bad_."

"Sans can't deal with it." Frisk looked at his shiny blue knife. "Nuh uh. I've done waaaaaaay too much to him! I-I can't even ever call him dad knowing all I did!"

"04823, I don't know how much he spilled to him," Flowey informed her. "Probably anything he could to corrupt him."

"Fine, don't call him dad, but he's still taking care of it."

"No. This is a Frisk thing."

"No, death and destruction will be a Frisk thing if you go!" Chara insisted. "So you aren't going."

"Monster candy?" Flowey reminded him. "Your power is like Monster candy."

"Inside the darkness where I was," Frisk said, "but not anymore."

"No. Frisk. You don't get it." Flowey dangled himself in front of him. "Kid, you're _gone_. Frisk, it's got to stop. You might think that you can defeat 04823, but that bite of candy will lead you higher. Who else hurt your mom? Who else hurt anyone? Before you know it, your power will control you. You'll just be a thing out killing others for no reason anymore."

"No." Frisk shook his head. "I'd never do that."

"It's true. And, whatever self-control you have would disappear, once you lose your self."

"He's right, Itty Bitty," Chara said. "You can't hang on. There's too much power."

"But?" Frisk looked at his hands. "But. But I'm me."

"You can't be you. If you go out like this, you're going to slowly forget who you are." Flowey touched his cheeks with his stems tenderly. "You've got to let go of being yourself, one way or another. You can either do it here, while you're learning to grow, and making new memories. Creating a new sense of yourself. Or, you can do it out there, and probably kill thousands in the process."

"You're probably already forgetting things," Chara said back. "What are all the Frisks identity codes?"

"Uh? 36320. 95452. 95451. No wait, that's me." Frisk looked at his fingers. "I . . . but they are like . . ."

"As a Frisk, you've got two paths ahead. I'm not lying. They both end up with your memories being lost," Flowey said to him as he dangled. He swung to the left. "One side is you going off, losing yourself, and committing GENOCIDE." He swung to the right. "One side is hard for a Frisk to take, but it's going back home, denying yourself that power, choosing to do _nothing_ , and not hurting anyone in that process."

"That's . . . that's it?" Frisk wiped at the tears on his face. "There must be a third option."

"Monster candy. Your lucky you haven't spilled it yet," Flowey said.

"I don't . . . I don't . . . it's like a slow death . . ." Chance covered his eyes. "It'll be like a slow death."

"I promise, I'll try and get Sans before the end. Um. I'll be there though. Okay? And, even though it might seem like death, it's more of a super super super slow mindwipe on the spirit you have inside of you. Sort of." Flowey pulled himself closer. "Alone isn't fun, I know. I promise, we'll do your best to get your dad. Okay?"

"Stay with me? Flowey?"

"Yeah. Right 'til the end, Frisk. Flowey is your friend 'til the end."


	53. Soulwiped

**Waterfall . . .**

She heard him muttering behind her before yelling for her. Why was she so annoyed with him? _He has been good. He asked for a date accordingly. He has not done anything bad during our date. Why am I so annoyed with him? No, it's deeper. I am bitter. I feel bitter toward him. Why?_ Emotions could be so complicated. She watched him start walking next to her.

"Talk to me?"

"I can't."

"But, why? What did I do?"

"I am ascertaining it right now."

"Frisky, stop."

She kept walking.

"Please, Frisky Faith? Whatever I did, I'm sorry?"

She continued to walk, still not knowing.

"Come on? Wife? Can't we work this out?"

Then, it hit her. That was it. She understood, but did not want to open up about it. _I . . . I appreciate Sans like I have never appreciate_ _d_ _anyone else. I hurt when I can't see him happy. I enjoy being around him. I . . . I don't like others like I do him. But. But!_ She continued to walk, feeling even more bitter now that she understood. _He does not feel the same way! He said it himself, and now I know why I always hated it. I . . .I love Sans, but I am nothing but a convenience. He is reaching for me because we are married and he can't have anything with anyone else. I am not his choice. That is why he doesn't care if I can't joke with_ _him. I am equal to anyone else._

* * *

"Frisky, please stop." Sans moved in front of her, grabbing her hands and trying to hold her still. "What's wrong?" He didn't get it. They had just been quietly walking along. She said some things out of the blue, but then she seemed to have come unglued and started walking by herself.

"If Friskay had been Chance's mother, you would have married her, even though she repulses you." Frisky suddenly spoke. "You practically would have dragged me in chains, so you would have done that to her too."

Oh, that didn't sound right. "But, she wasn't."

"But she could have been."

"But, she wasn't." Sans knew that for a fact. "There's no way that was the case, Frisky. You're Chance's mom."

"But she could have been." She repeated it again. "And you would have married her."

"As really bad as that would have been? Yeah," Sans admitted. "So?" She just yanked her hands away and walked around him again. _Not getting this, I am not getting this. She's Chance's mom, what is her problem? Does she think she isn't?_ Maybe. They did wipe her mind a lot. "Hey, I promise. You're Chance's mom. The little soul thing with the healer, that can only happen with the parents." Did that make it better? No, she was still walking away. "What?"

"And if she had been," Frisky said, still walking away, "then you would be spending all day with her at work. And, she would be here right now, on this date."

"I . . ." He didn't get it. "I guess so? Since she'd be my wife? But, you're my wife, so why does that matter?" Just moved away faster. _Shoot!_ This date was supposed to bring them closer together, not farther apart.

"Then I am annoyed at not only you but myself." She stopped. "I realize that now. I am annoyed at myself."

Herself? Sans moved up toward her, now that she stopped. "About what?"

"I was annoyed that you are still even thinking of the three-month deal, or that you are thinking that you must make something work because we shall be together for centuries," she finally said. "But I am actually annoyed at _myself_ for not making it clearer when I found out that the barrier would one day come down and that, when we would be in a different territory, things will change. You do _not_ have to stay married to me. I do _not_ have to stay married to you. There are no rules that govern children or family like that."

"Uh?" Uh. "But we're married. Marriage is forever."

"Not out there, Sans the Skeleton, which is what the Underground has and will become. Exposed. It is not a simple habitat area, it will be integrated. Even our marriage is technically invalid in any other area besides the Underground. Therefore, you do not need to do this, and I should not . . . I should not have come on this date." She began to walk away again. "Centuries are not a long time to be with someone, if you can choose to be with someone else. Your future is yours."

And . . . _Huh?!_ "Wait, Frisky!" He got it now. "Just 'cause I'm married to you, I mean, that's not why I'm here."

"You would have been here with Friskay, Sans."

"Not the same way. You don't get it." Shoot, shoot, shoot! "I like you!"

"I enjoy your company too, but that is different."

Why was she being like this? "Monster marriage is forever. I'm not going to ever get rid of you, I don't care if I can in the future. Please? Come on?" This date was absolutely horrible. "I want you for centuries by my side. Will you stop and listen?"

"I am annoyed with myself for many things right now. I was wrong if I didn't explain it right. I am upset with me, not you," Frisky said, "and my feet want to walk it out."

Okay, this wasn't going to be his shining moment, but Sans was getting desperate. "Wow, if we had boards up right now, Frisk would be failing bad, completely almost crushed."

She stopped. That did it. "I am annoyed. I hate to lose though."

"Of course, you are a Frisk. So come over here and talk to me?" Sans moved beside her, exposing her weakness to accomplish everything. "See? Side by side, walking. Not too hard. Getting some points back. Next step is to talk? I'm never leaving you, okay?" Still not happy. "Marriage is sacred, Frisky, I don't want anyone else."

"Centuries is a long time to be with someone. You should make sure it is the right one, instead of the random one that just got tossed onto an experimentation table," she said. "How do you know there is not someone better out there for you, Sans?"

"But." He couldn't tell her. He couldn't prove to her she was the right one without telling her the truth about a forgotten timeline. One day, but not yet. "But. I don't care for anyone besides you. Really. Ever."

"If Friskay had been here, you would be saying the same thing," she countered him. "I. I don't like this. I don't know what you say for me as me, and as me as your wife." She crossed her arms. "I am doing very badly on this date. I can't think straight."

"Yeah, I see?" Sans came closer to her. "First of all, no, _that_ first one would be a no. I wouldn't be out here telling Friskay the same thing in a cruel world where I had to deal with her. Because I don't like her the way I like you." Was he reaching her yet at all? He tried to touch her hand again. "Some touching would gain points?" She didn't care too awful much about those extra points though.

Of course not. The chances that Frisky would be someone he really just happened to want to be with? Even when he knew about the forgotten timeline, he didn't really know. Not completely, not at first. But. "Nobody's perfect. Sorry you got stuck with me." Okay, twice as risky. She was real good at ACT but would she see it? "I know I'm not the greatest thing around. I joke too much. I'm too lazy half the time to make a half-decent joke. I'm just me, and I can't change who I am." He shrugged. "Sorry that you feel trapped that you had to be with me."

"But I don't. I feel like . . . sometimes, I just, I feel like . . ." She touched her hand to her chest. "That. That next to you is where I should be, even if we weren't married. But, there are several better matches for you. And, and I think that . . . that you shouldn't just let yourself go down to circumstance. And." She bit her little human lip cutely. "I don't know how to ACT again with you. This is all coming out weird and wrong, and I am doing everything awkwardly. I feel ashamed. I should have just walked along, that was all it took to make this date successful."

"Well, sometimes success ain't really about doing what's expected." He pulled her closer to him. "Monster marriage is forever, but in the weird backward world where I did end up with Friskay, I'd let her go once I didn't have to take care of her for Chance. But, I can't with you. Do you get it?"

"But what if there is something else for you?" She asked again. "I'm just. I'm just a soldier."

"Kind of short. Kind of lazy. Kind of never been interested in anyone else?" He reminded her, bringing her even closer. "Don't sell yourself short, I'm not that tall of an order."

"I like you," Frisky blurted out. "I. I like you. I think you are wonderful! And. Not 'cause I should." Frisky was blushing hard. "I hate my ACT when I'm around you."

"Funny. I tend to love it."

"I don't. A Frisk should-" Frisky grabbed onto him quickly. She almost buckled on the ground as a laser shot across their view. "What was that?"

"A conversation starter that probably isn't so light an issue." Sans held her beside him as Chara appeared. "You never just show up out of the blue. Did our week just get exciting again?"

"Chara, what's wrong?" Frisky asked.

"Frisky. It's not freezing. Walk home. I have to break up your date to talk to Sans. _Now_."

"Hm?" Frisky looked between Sans and Chara. "For what?"

"Not saying it again. Go home or hang around Falls on the other end. I need to talk to Sans and like _now_."

"Here, Frisky, enjoy the rest of your walk without me." Sans took a shortcut to the end of falls. "Sorry. Um. Maybe I can come back soon?" Sans took a shortcut back and saw Chara. "Great. Date was finally getting good. Oh well. What's up?"

"Chance. Frisk. Whatever you want to call my Itty Bitty. He's up," Chara said. "Look, I don't have a lot of time for explaining. I figured everything was cool. I wanted everything to be cool. But, the truth is, Frisk is natural, and while they are awesome in general? Experimentation made them loose. A half Monster half human once went on a rampage, shortly after it was born. It took a nuclear attack against it to bring it down."

"What?!"

"The reason it went off was mainly hallucinogens. Delusions. Illusions. Whatever you want to call it," Chara said. "Anyhow, your kid is fine now. Flowey convinced him to go back down."

"I . . ." Sans touched his skull. "I'm confused?"

"Your Itty Bitty became Frisk. Flesh body with power to spare to blow a hole through the universe," Chara approached him closer. "If I could hit ya on the shoulder for some confidence, I would. Ya see, Chance's whole body had changed, but the mind was the last. It is now awake, and it can't stay. A six year old's mind and all the power he possesses don't mix. It's got to start fresh too."

"Okay." Sans held his bony hand out. "The old memories of Chance are inside the new one, but they are about to be wiped out?"

"Yep."

"Well, that's just a mindwipe. He'll be fine soon. What's the big deal?"

"And this is the part where you take your little butt over to Flowey at home. Pronto." Chara disappeared.

Okay? Chara interrupted his date for this? Not that it was going super smooth, but it looked like it was starting to progress better. Well, Chara wanted him over there, so he'd go and then get back to Frisky.

Sounded simple enough.

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' Home . . .**

Sans saw Flowey standing by Papyrus' bedroom door when he took his shortcut home. He went up the stairs. When he got closer, he saw Flowey's stems reaching inside the room, but beneath the crib.

"Rocking him," Flowey muttered. " _Just_ rocking. It's your turn, Sans the Skeleton."

Sans saw Papyrus just sleeping away on his bed. He wasn't technically on more hours because of the marriage instead of the committing, but if he was 'wanting to make himself better', then GOLD was GOLD. He moved over toward the crib. Chance was on his back instead of on his side. "So, Original Chance is inside New Chance, huh?"

"Don't take it so soft," Flowey warned him. "Pick up your _new_ Chance. Notice anything?"

"Nothing that says I woke up and almost committed GENOCIDE again. Glad I missed that." Sans picked him up. "He's completely safe though now, right?"

"Really? _Really?_ " Flowey hissed. "And they still call me an evil flower. Just reach down deep, like when you gain a body. Don't put it inside your body this time, but don't release the power."

"Wait, he's wet?" Sans looked at his coat. "It's not snowing outside. How'd he get wet?"

"How do you get wet around the front of your skull?" Flowey said, still almost with a hiss. "He's manifesting sweat and tears."

Oooh. It took a lot to manifest those. Sans moved him out of the room and brought him to his room, not wanting to wake Papyrus. _Okay, reach deep down and gather it._ Sans grew blue but still couldn't make any contact. "Not working."

"He's down deep, down really deep," Flowey said, hopping his pot closer to the door. "Keep trying. You have to do it."

"I don't know," Sans said. "This could be stressing him out even more. And . . . you know, I'm still wrapping my whole mind around the GENOCIDE part?" He said, looking toward Flowey. "Nobody wanted to tell me that until _after_ , huh?"

"Sans you blasted idiot, stop talking and concentrate!" Flowey yelled at him, bouncing up and down in his pot. "That's why you can't reach him. You're not putting everything into it. You're not _getting_ it."

"Yeah, I do. I don't think anyone's real new to the concept of mindwipe by now," Sans said.

"You tell yourself that. Fine. Go. Go back to your peaceful little date with Frisky. I'll stay. I'll be there for the kid, and then afterwards? I am out of here. So just go, just get out!"

"Yeah. I'm missing something." Sans looked toward Chance. _Okay. Build it up as much as possible. This is important to_ _Chara_ _. This is important to_ _Flowey_ _. I don't get it, but if an evil flower is acting like I'm evil, then it must matter. So! Come on. Come on._ He gathered his energy again. _Kid, you there?_ Nothing yet.

"Act like the first time he changed into a Skeleton," Flowey said. "Don't worry about hurting him. Trust me, that part's fine. Just contact him, just reach him, _now_. Please?"

Okay. More. _Chance?_ Nothing. _Hey, Buddy, it's Sans._

"He already doesn't know that name, Sans," Flowey warned him. "Call him Frisk, and if he stops recognizing that, call him 95451. And when you reach him, try to project an image. Make him feel like you are there."

More power. Sans could feel a lot of power moving through him. He held his son in his arms closely, pouring more power into communicating. As much as he could. _Frisk? 95451. Hey? Anybody there? Come on? Hello?_

 _Sans?_

Finally.

 _Image, Smiley Idiot, image_ _projection_ _!_

It was risky. Chance was still a newborn. A newborn who almost committed GENOCIDE somehow. _Yeah, fine._

Sans looked around and saw a projection of Flowey, near Chance's head. Chance's body wasn't moving. Not even a little. He walked over to him. "Hey, Chance, how you doing?"

Chance's eyes focused on Sans. "Oh." His mouth finally moved. "Sorry. Who's Chance?"

"Um. Sorry." Sans snapped his bony fingers, making a crunchier snap sound. "Frisk. How you doing, Frisk?"

"Sans. You're . . . you're the guard who greeted me," Frisk said, trying to focus. "You. You followed me too. When I was good."

"Um, yep. That's me," Sans said. "I took you out for Grillby's too. Remember that?"

"Yeah. Kinda. I think so." Frisk's eyes darted around. "I am somewhere and I can't get out. There's no board. I can't ACT. I can't . . . quite remember how I got here . . ." Frisk looked a little toward the side. "Flowey is here though. I must be somewhere near the end . . . when Flowey got me."

"Yep." Flowey chuckled. "You bet, Frisk. You're in my deep, dark world."

"Uh."

His eyes. Frisk was lost. So lost. "Uh, hey kid?" Sans winked at him. "Loosen up, you can't be there. 'Cause I'm here."

"Flowey . . . doesn't feel the same," Frisk said. "Nothing feels the same. I feel alone. I can't explain why, Sans, but I . . . I should hear people." His eyes darted back and forth. "I should be hearing other voices."

"Oh." The Frisks. "Yeah. They all split from you. Congrats, pal, you have your body back." Although he still couldn't seem to move it.

"Sans?" Tears started to well up in Frisk's eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all the times I hurt the Monsters."

He knew? "Don't sweat it, kid."

"I . . . I killed Papyrus. I killed him and you never knew he would come back. I murdered him in cold blood," Frisk started to move his head slightly. "I can't say I'm sorry enough."

"Hey, it's okay." Geez. "How's he knowing this?"

"And I'm sorry, I really am. And I'm sorry I came back. I didn't mean to. I know you said to stay away from you and Toriel. I didn't mean to ever bump into you again."

"Flowey, how's he know this?" Sans asked the flower. "Flowey!"

"This isn't a mindwipe, it's a soulwipe. Everything that he learned as Chance is going, Sans. _Everything_. From the tiniest conversation, to all the resets that were laid to rest in his head. It's all cropping up. Everything," Flowey insisted. "What he remembers, and what he wasn't _supposed to_ , but happened with him. Anything that ever happened with his body. In a way. This is completely FRISK. Dying."

"That poor snowman," Frisk said out of the blue, tears shedding to the ground. "I should have taken him all the way through. He would have been a happier snowman. Wait, I did? You said I did? Did I, Sans?" Frisk's eyes were darting from corner to corner, just like Frisky's. "No, I didn't. I ate him. I left him a pile of snow and I ate him."

"Kid." Sans bent down to him. "It's okay. There were several things that happened, but they don't matter. None of them matter! Okay?" _Please stop. Please, please stop this, I can't take this._

"I . . . I fought so hard. I fought so hard against you. I'm so sorry. I just wanted your little hit point. I craved it, and I don't know why, and I am so sorry!" Frisk yelled. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything, Sans! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Kid, no, stop!" If only he could touch him. Comfort him.

"I'm sorry I broke our promise. I'm sorry I stepped over that line. You never even hurt me. No one else gave me a chance. No one else did, just you, and I'm so sorry." Frisk tightened his fist. "Mettaton's cooking show was kind of cool. Undyne fixed spaghetti. Flowey was always the first thing I saw when I came Underground. When I came from . . . from somewhere. I guess, I fell from the mountain. Right, Sans? I fell from the mountain?"

Sans couldn't even speak that well anymore. "Ye."

"I wonder where I came from. I wonder if it was nice or not." Frisk blinked a couple of times. "Hey, who are you? I'm Steve. I am new here to the grassy jungles. I think. Where am I again? The Pit of No Return? That was a good place for a burger. I'm sorry, I can't see the colors of your shoes. I bet they are blue and turquoise though. Maybe."

"He's fading off, Sans . . ." Flowey looked toward him. "He's not even Frisk now."

"AM and PM speak Monster so much better than me, but I'll show them. I'll learn better. Learn better than ever." He looked back toward Sans again. "Um. Who are you?"

"Oh." Sans just tried to give him the biggest smile. "I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton."

"Oh. Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm 9 . . .5 . . . I don't . . ."

Then, Frisk just disappeared, like a gust of blue wind. When Sans opened his eyes, Chance was still in his arms.

Except now, he had his eye sockets opened, with his little lights looking at him questioningly. He even started to reach out with his tiny little bony hands.

"It's not easy being lost," Flowey said as he hopped over slightly. "He's not lost anymore. He's got his new beginning now. Make it count for him, Sans."

"Sans!" Papyrus shouted, coming in from behind them. "Ooh, it's that naughty flower again!" He went over toward him. "Oh, you see? I told you he opened his eyes. Cute. He's staring at you, Sans." He placed his hand on top of Sans' shoulder. "Probably wondering who you are."

"Dad." Sans lifted him up slightly. "I'm dad, son. And everything's okay from now on, I promise." He brought him in closer to him, but felt him trying to move away. Much like . . . much like Frisk would do.

"You okay, Sans?" Papyrus asked. "You're all wet. So's the ground. So is Chance. Have you been manifesting tears?"

"I just need a minute, Pap," Sans choked. "Uh. Frisky is at Waterfall's edge somewhere. Could you find her and pick her up? Thanks."

"Um, okay?" Papyrus said, "but don't trust that flower, he tried to topple Chance's crib. Sans?" Sans just closed the door as he walked across his room to the small window.

"Soulwiped. Mindwiped."

"No achievements. No regrets," Flowey said. "Thanks for not letting him down, Smiley Trashbag. He'd been stuck there since the transformation. He even tried to escape it, like any sane person would. But, like a good Frisk, he did the right thing. All he wanted . . . he just wanted to be found again before he began again."

"He forgot he was Frisk."

"Well, he isn't anymore. It's all wiped away." Flowey stretched from his pot a little higher. "Look into his little eye sockets. There's nothing there anymore. He's not stuck in darkness anymore." He smiled and bounced back and forth. "He gets his new beginning! Right from the start. He can't do what he once did anymore, but I think it still tugged him developmentally up a few months."

Sans watched him tug at the furriness of his collar coat. "Flowey. Give me a few minutes with him, okay?"

"Uh. Sure, Sansy." Flowey started to hop out of the room.

"Oh. Flowey?"

Flowey looked back toward him.

"You're a good flower now."

Flowey . . . felt something stir inside of him. Good flower.

For the first time, he was called a _good_ flower.


	54. I Don't Want It

**A distance outside the barrier . . .**

"Hey. Sorry that it didn't work."

04823 looked to the right of him. He almost glared at the person talking to him. "I think I did fine."

"Uh? If you say so?" The guy started labeling off things with his fingers. "You tried to get into the barrier again, but the ghost guarding it has too much DETERMINATION. You tried to keep 95451 from changing, and now you blew your last chance at getting 95451 to come back to lure 95452 back to you." He almost chuckled. "Not your fault, I know. Not much you can do when you've got a barrier separating you from the guy that took everything."

"I don't know. I think if I wasn't in such a good mood, I'd just kill you right now human," 04823 said with an odd grin. "I think I did _just_ fine."

"But . . ."

"I can't get past the barrier. I can't fight him _physically_. But, that isn't how you fight something like this," 04823 said. "I'm a Skeleton, but I'm also a teacher. I know a Monster's limit. I should have gotten everything right. Things should be going my way very soon."

"What do you mean?"

"Sans just witnessed the end of FRISK. It takes a lot to make Sans the Skeleton's inner monster come out. Even their so-called stupid Soul Bearing probably didn't touch it much. Frisk knows fighting him, but she's never seen it from him. And that? It will be the end of my worry." 04823 crossed his arms and stared at the barrier. "Forcing Frisk to bottom out. Forcing Sans to project himself to deal with me. Why get my hands dirty in a fight?"

"I really don't get that. What's the point?"

"Sans will do all the work for me. By the time the barrier lowers, I need only strut over to get my claim back."

"But? I don't get it."

"Of course not. I am an expert at PACIFISM and monsters. I just got everything I wanted, without killing a single Monster. Will see how this Soul Bearing goes." 04823 brought out a bottle of catsup and took a large swig. "Goes down easy for a Skeleton on a good day. Cheers."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

As far as first dates went, Frisky felt like she probably didn't do so well. Papyrus brought her home and she knocked on her bedroom door. "Sans?" He didn't answer. She went into their room and saw him sitting on the bed with Chance. Chance was actually mobile, touching the front of San's skull, almost by his teeth. "Chance?"

"He uhh . . . he awoke." Sans was far from himself. Frisky came near him and sat down. "I said goodbye to FRISK."

"Hm?" What exactly did he mean? "Sans?"

"Why couldn't you have just been a Monster?" Sans blurted out. "Nothing would have happened if you'd been a Monster. Chance would've been born the way he should have. You would have already been here in the mountain, and I wouldn't have had to marry _you_ just to make sure you were safe. You'd be a Monster, not some simple fragile human thing that _always_ needed protecting. You could have your own place, and get your own GOLD." He stood up. "You could handle your own problems. You wouldn't need me to fight your own stupid battles. You wouldn't even have any stupid battles if you were a Monster. _Why_ couldn't you have been a Monster, Frisky?!"

Frisky was stunned. What? Sans never yelled to her. At her.

"If you were a Monster, it would have all worked out. No one would have touched him or done anything to him." Sans held his son closely. "If you were a Monster, you could have protected him from those that did hurt him." Sans held the front of his skull. "If you were a Monster, _this_ would be a much better marriage. I could sleep next to you without any clothes like Monsters do. But, forget that, I can't even get you to just walk and shut up for a simple date."

Frisky moved away from him. Whatever happened to him, he didn't want anything to do with her right now. She watched Chance moving around. Finally mobile. It should have been a time of celebration, but it looked more like Sans was in mourning. And the cruelty . . . it felt worse than Judgment Hall. And . . . _I knew it. I knew it! I'm_ ** _not_** _what he ever wanted! Oh, you stupid Frisk! He's hurting because of you!_ She turned away and wiped her cheeks. Monster marriage was forever, and he'd never let her go. He'd hold onto that honor, even with her lousy butt.

Fighting her battles? When did she say she wanted him to do that? A Frisk fights their own battles, he was the one that was sparring with Farrisk. _Because I'm his wife. I'm his burden, and to him, I can't take care of myself._ She pulled out her MP to teleport away from him and give him some time to himself, but even that got a reaction.

"If you were a Monster, I wouldn't have to worry about you always going out to the Frisks to work out problems, solutions, or just to be another annoying Frisk."

She stopped. "I'm sorry." That wasn't good enough. How was she supposed to ACT? She never did the right thing in front of him.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Frisks." Sans was holding Chance, rocking him, and even manifesting tears, not caring to wipe them away. "Why did you have to be just annoying humans riding inside _my_ son? Why did you have to do soo much? I'm a simple guy. I just wanted to escape resets. I wanted something different, but I . . . I didn't want to lose everything too."

"Chance is okay," Flowey assured her. He'd been near the door. " _Don't_ take it to heart. Sans is in his own little world right now. Kind of like the Soul Bearing? He doesn't even really know-"

"He's speaking from his heart," Frisky said, leaving the room and closing the door. Her voice was dry, almost raspy. "I've brought him nothing but heartache. You heard him." She felt tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't be what he wants. I can never _be_ what he wants, Flowey. He doesn't deserve this." She backed away and wiped her tears. "I don't deserve him."

"Oh." Flowey took a deep breath as he watched her pull her MP out. "What are you doing? Going to see the Frisks?"

"No. Doing what I _should_ have done a long time ago." She sniffled. "I'm sorry, Sans, but for your own good, I have to break my promise to you."

"Ohhh . . ." Flowey leaned closer. "Frisky, I know you're hurting, but what are you doing?"

"Giving Sans what he really wants." Frisky fiddled on the MP 20. Much more powerful. Much more capability. Friskarino had shown her so much. Including. "No more worries."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House the Next Morning . . .**

 _Hmmm . . ._ Strange. Sans looked around at the huge bed he slept in. "Great. One more weird thing Frisk is doing to my life." He groaned and rolled out of bed, heading for the door. He moved his skull from the left and to the right as he reached his door.

Papyrus was there when he opened it. "Uh?" That was unusual. "Hey, Papyrus. Morning?"

"Um. You have the day off. Undyne says you have a day off. So, go back to bed, Sans." Papyrus closed his door for him again.

"What?" That was weird. In what reset did Papyrus ever do that? "Huh. New twist." Something new. Exciting. "Now? Lie down and enjoy the day off, or go find out what the kid is screwing with to get this result." If he didn't feel so exhausted, he'd pick the first. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll get some more rest."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House Mid Evening . . .**

Wow. Weird. Sans got up pretty dang late. He really expected Papyrus to grill him for being such a lazybones. Papyrus was home, but he didn't seem to bother. "You okay, Pap?"

"Fine," he replied. "Enjoying the day off."

"Uh. Yeah." Okay. Weird mood shift. Very weird. "I'm off to Grillby's. You want anything?"

"No. Enjoy yourself, Sans."

"Um. Sure." Sans walked out the door . . . and saw . . . light? Bright light. Sans looked up. "Paaa . . . pa pa pa-Papyrus!" He kept his eyes on the sky. The. Sky. "Pap. Pap. Pap." He pointed upward.

"Oh, yes." Papyrus said it casually like it wasn't a big deal. "It's the sky, Sans. What else is new?"

Papyrus acted like it was nothing though. Great. Another strange change. "But. Uh. Hey. Uh. Uh." Yeah, the kid. The nap was nice, but it was _time_ to find that kid.

* * *

Not at his posts. Not at Grillby's. Not in Waterfall. Not by the lab. Nowhere. "Where the heck is Frisk?" Sans scratched his skull. That kid was always affecting his world somehow. He looked up at the sky again. It was amazing to see, but nobody else seemed to think anything of it. Every once in awhile he seemed to see someone look up and seem to appreciate it a few seconds, but nobody acted like it was the biggest deal.

It was the sky. The freaking sky! How did the kid get that to happen? He thought he had seen everything the kid could have thrown at him. But, this. This was different. And the kid he always knew how to follow, was nowhere to be found.

Later that night, he got another surprise. Supper. "Papyrus? What's this?"

"Artisan Spaghetti," Papyrus said off-handedly.

Sans poked at it. It was warm. Not cold. Not freezing. He could actually pry it up. It didn't look soggy. He put it in his mouth. "Looks great, Pap." But it was more than great, and the strange tongue he had had all day didn't know how to express itself. "Tastes great, Pap! This is excellent! How'd you do it?"

"Just did." Papyrus said as he started to wash the pots. "Just did, Sans. You like it, huh? That's good."

"That's good? You could be a chef with that great taste," Sans cheered him on. "This is really good." Strange. It was like . . . his brother seemed a bit depressed all day. "You okay, Papyrus?"

"I am fine, Sans. Undyne says 9:00 tomorrow for work. I have one last small shift, and then I will go to bed early," Papyrus said. "Goodnight, Sans."

Okay. _Nobody died today. That was good. I actually saw the sky today without making it to the surface for a few minutes with Frisk. Um._ But Frisk was missing, and even though Papyrus wasn't dead, his attitude almost seemed dead. _Weird day. Not bad, but weird._

* * *

 **The Ruins, Toriel's back door . . .**

Papyrus knocked on Toriel's door. He'd done just as he was supposed to do. It looked like from most of San's cluelessness that even Snowdin hadn't bothered to disrupt him. Which meant when he went to Grillby's, he was probably lying. Sans had done that a lot before he started to share truths with him.

Toriel answered the door. "Come on, Papyrus. Come on in."

The hallway up to her home was long, but he reached the stairs and saw some of the Conduits playing at the top.

"They all seem to enjoy his presence," Toriel smiled at him. "Honestly, their soul's even seem to finally be healing. I would not doubt if his presence one day completely healed them."

"Oh. That's nice." Still, Papyrus couldn't be cheery.

"Did Sans have a good day?"

"Oh. I suppose." Papyrus watched the Conduits moving to and from when he spotted them. "There he is!" Papyrus ran over and picked up Chance. "Look at you, all crawling around and everything."

"He is a handful. Frisk was always a handful."

Papyrus looked behind him at Frisky. "He. Sans did fine," he admitted. "But, I still strongly disagree-"

"I don't. As long as Sans is happy, that's all that matters." Frisky came over to look toward Chance. "A little each day. He'll know it all."

"This isn't what he wanted," Papyrus said assuringly.

"I put a partial mindwipe on him," Frisky said. "Partial. He'll only remember if he really wants to remember. And, he'll know the important basics soon. That's all he needs to know. A little each day. Facts."

"Yes. Today he figured out the sky. Not a surprise there," Papyrus said. "He also thought my cooking was good. He thought I figured out everything by myself though. Do I really have to fix only spaghetti each night?"

"No. Let him think Undyne is teaching you new things. His mind will slowly start to accept that the resets stopped." Frisky shrugged. "Being out of the resets is all he ever wanted."

"And that's it? That's all you really think Sans wants?" Papyrus complained.

"No. He wants Chance, and that's fine. I told you. Take him for the whole day if you want. Chance is fine and well-protected. If Sans wants him every waking hour, then I will take care of him during his working hours," Frisky reasoned. "No baggage. He gets the life he deserves, however he wants it."

" . . . you . . . you you you Frisks!" Papyrus yelled at her. "Do you always have to be so complicated?"

"I am trying to keep him happy. You've seen him. You know everything." Frisky looked toward the ground. " _I_ am his troubles. _I_ am all his troubles. Frisk took over this world and made it theirs. And then, _I_ took over his life. I brought him into thinking he needed to take on my battles. I was brought into the house, changing his whole dynamic of living. He had to work so many more hours. He was dealing with new things because of Frisks just all the time. _All the time_. And that isn't a life for him, and you know it."

"But . . ." Papyrus looked toward Chance. "But Sans-"

"-I broke him, Papyrus! When it comes down to it, all Sans ever wanted was a simple life." Frisky gestured to him. "He wanted his brother. He wanted a simple job. He wants to . . ." She took a step back as she wiped her face. "No, I am Frisk, and I can handle this." She looked confidently at Papyrus. "Day by day, he'll get happier. That is all that matters."

"But-"

"That's all that matters. My problems are _my_ problems. My fights are _my_ fights. That's final!" Frisky turned to walk away.

"But . . ." Papyrus looked toward Toriel. "But?"

Toriel shook her head. "It's a partial, Papyrus. She's right. If Sans really wants it, he can remember. But if he doesn't? Then." She shrugged. "I love both of them dearly and I hate to really see it like this! But? Sometimes, just."

"But Sans says she couldn't defeat what's coming after her when the barrier is lost," Papyrus reminded her. "She'll be taken or killed!"

"Frisky. She is a Frisk, and when it comes down to it?" Toriel looked toward the ground. "She will do what she feels is right, no matter the cost. You know that by now, don't you? Whether it is death, or whether it is life with the one called Conner." Simple tears shined in her eyes. "Papyrus? Just let it go. Just follow what she wants."

"This? This? It's not right." Papyrus hugged Chance. "She should be at home, with Sans. Sleeping right now, with-with Chance right beside them." It was too harsh. It was just too harsh. "Frisk always made his life hard, and it continues to manipulate it even now."

"And you think she is fine? Are you blind?" Toriel lifted her head to the air. "My child is _suffering_. She doesn't want this either. Do you think just because she doesn't remember about the forgotten timeline . . . because she doesn't even _k_ _now_ about the forgotten timeline, that she feels nothing? Can you really not see? She has been in love with him for so very, very long. I suspect before he even knew her as a separate being."

Papyrus stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't think it was just shame that she refused to meet Sans as Frisk again."

"I?" Papyrus was still confused. "I don't understand?"

"Honestly?" Toriel rubbed her head fervishly and then took a deep breath. "I believe. That she fell in love. With Sans. When she was inside FRISK."

" . . . eh?"

"Exactly. You can't be inside your own child's body and . . . and carry on with feelings like that around someone." Toriel nodded her head. "Frisky is not being selfish. She is pushing Sans first. If he wants her? Then, he'll remember. And you? You can't be selfish either."

Papyrus looked toward Chance.

"No, I don't mean him. You can see him whenever you want. Be a very selfish Uncle, that is fine!" Toriel insisted. "I mean with Sans. You can't just assume that a life with Frisky and Chance with all their troubles is what he really wants either. Things change. If it's meant to be, he'll find his way back to her."

"But?" Papyrus sighed and sat Chance back on the ground, not being able to hold the fidgety little babybones. "But what if it takes longer for him to remember? He only has so much time before something comes after them."

"I think Frisky knows that," Toriel said. "When that day comes, if she hasn't chosen the higher soldier, then she will leave Chance with me and go out on her own, facing her own destiny head on. When that fight ends, I will send Chance to you. If Sans wants him. Those were her words. End of story."

"Buuuuuut!"

"End of story. If you are done seeing Chance, then you should go home. Just knock on my door, and I will always answer for you," Toriel smiled. "It's okay."

"How? How is this possibly 'okay'?" Papyrus sniffled, wiping away his manifested tears. "No Monster is better off without his wife and child."

"Ever since the repeats stopped, Sans has still had his life controlled. He was forced to accept prisoners in his home. He was forced to accept being a father. He was forced to accept a committing which turned into a marriage. He was forced to accept Frisky's troubles as his own. He was forced to accept the tragic truth between him and Frisky. And it's not just that?" Toriel shook her head. "Frisky was forced to accept the death of FRISK. She was forced to kill a Frisk. She was forced to accept Sans as her son's father. She was forced to accept that Sans had to marry her. She was forced to bear her own secrets when she had not been ready to. And? She was forced to accept the death of her Chance. Not as a being, but as his memories. His mother. Losing her son of six years to start all over again."

Toriel started to walk away. "They have each been forced to accept everything upon them. It's time . . . to just let them choose their own ways, Papyrus."

Papyrus groaned. "Oh, everyone here." He slapped the front of his skull. _But Sans did choose. He was dating her. That was choosing. Right?_ The barrier Chara did not want to see Toriel, and Frisky was not leaving the Ruins. Chara could and would do nothing. The annoying flower was also in the Ruins, staying with them.

And it was annoying! It wasn't what Sans would have wanted. It wasn't. Right? Sure. Sans would want to remember the truth soon.

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House, the Next Morning . . .**

"Okay." Sans yawned as he rolled out of bed. He slowly headed to the door. The sun was actually waking him up, so there must still be a sky outside. He still woke up in his big bed. No reset yet on the weirdness. Still, it'd reset.

Nice to see the sky though at least. He walked down the stairs and saw Papyrus waiting for him. "Sup?"

"Sans!" Papyrus came over toward him and gave him a big hug. "I can't do this so well, Brother. I'm trying, but this is hard!"

"Whoah. Slow down. Doing what?" Sans asked. "You okay?"

"No!" Papyrus stomped the floor. "Alright! I suppose since you might actually visit somewhere today instead of looking for Frisk and just telling me you did that-"

"Hold up-what?"

" . . . and just telling me you did _that_ , I shall tell you a few things. The resets have stopped."

"The wha-?" How'd he know that?

"The resets have stopped for some time now. Weeks, actually," Papyrus said. "Life is moving onward. We aren't stuck in a mountain, as you can see from the sky."

"Umm . . . what?" Sans closed both eye sockets and opened them again. "Uh?"

"Yes, they stopped. Some time ago. That's why nobody is staring at the sky. You defeated FRISK and several things happened, including the sky revealing itself." Papyrus patted his shoulder. "Good job."

Frisk? "You mean the kid? The resets stopped? The?" Sans felt himself get dizzy. "I-I did it? But, how I? Where's the kid? How come I don't remember?"

"Well, those are more things for later. Uh, I should let you know because that will eventually be dropped. I'm honestly surprised no one dropped it yesterday. You really must not have stayed very long anywhere." Papyrus looked toward him. "You have a wife and child."

"?!" Sans took several steps back. "Uhh . . . Papyrus? You okay? 'Cause uh . . ." He shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. She is staying with Toriel, and so is your son. But, you can visit him," Papyrus smiled. "As much as you want."

"Uh. Uh." Sans held his bony hands out in defense. "Papyrus, I think something's screwy with you. And, um, you know Tori?"

"Yes. She was at the wedding." Papyrus patted him on the shoulder. "Wedding? Remember, Sans?"

Okay. Resets may have stopped, but something was killing Papyrus' mind! Like he'd have a wife and son? "Um?" Sans gulped. "Maybe we need to take you to a healer?"

"Hmph." Papyrus yanked Sans' cellphone off of him and gave it right back. "Then take everyone else that ever gave you congrats. Go ahead! Investigate your own phone."

Sans started to check his messages. Congratulations. Lots of congratulations, and even sex tips. And even a weird conversation between him and Alphys and Undyne! Him?! "I had to have a kid?!"

"Oh. That's passed. Your last kid changed into a newborn," Papyrus said, "so there was no need."

"Buh?" Sans shook his head again. "Okay, hang on? My _last kid_ turned into a newborn?" Sans put up his phone. "Okay, nuh uh, what's going on? How could we be free for just weeks, I have a wife and a kid, and-and!"

"Don't overwhelm yourself," Papyrus said. "It's just some facts. You can see him if you want to. Don't if you don't. Uh. You probably will never see your wife right now. She . . . it's, I guess she ran away like Queen Toriel did from King Asgore?"

"Okay . . ." Sans looked at his phone again. "Resets stopped weeks ago. I got married, had a kid, and she ran away? With the kid?" Still. Sounded. Weeeeiiiirrrdd. "Okay? What parallel world have a landed in?" He looked around. "Are parallels a thing? Did I somehow get out of a reset by landing in a parallel world?"

"If that is an easier way to handle it," Papyrus said. "Anyhow, I think that's enough for today."

"Um. Well, you could actually tell me which Monster I married?" Sans pointed out. "Might help? 'Cause I don't recognize this name on my phone. Who is Frisky?"

"Uh? We should really save that for another day?" Papyrus said. "That's um. That's a heavy one."

* * *

 **The next day . . .**

"I need more than a couple," Sans said as he looked through the fridge. He shouldn't even be surprised there were a couple. Usually there were none in there, but he could believe hearing what he just heard that there _were_. He was surprised there wasn't even more. He closed the fridge and popped the can, drinking as fast as he could.

"Sans. You shouldn't drink that fast," Papyrus said. "Sans?"

Sans lowered the brewski from his mouth. "You _just_ told me I married Frisk the human! The freaking _human_ , and that my son is Frisk too! How am I supposed to be taking that, Pap?!"

"Well? That's why we saved it for the next day," Papyrus smiled. "You see, the kid you knew as FRISK was several people in one. Seven humans. The human that they all rode in was your son. You renamed him Chance, but he was Frisk. He was the Frisk you mostly talked to I think. Your wife was riding in him too."

" . . . do I have more in my room?" Sans asked, pointing back to his alcohol. "Please? Tell me I have more hiding?"

"It sounds bizarre. Riding souls. They aren't the same though, very different," Papyrus tried to explain. "They all got their bodies back in the end."

"Yeah. Great. So. Frisk is my kid, and my wife. Really?" Sans rubbed the front of his skull. "This is just . . . I can't even . . ."

"Just some facts. Just more facts," Papyrus said softly. "Like I said, they are safe and away with Queen Toriel. So. You don't need to worry about them at all. Life goes on, Brother."

* * *

 **The Next Day . . .**

"Um. Are you ready for more?" Papyrus asked Sans.

Sans held up a six pack. "Fully stocked this time. Of course, I don't know how it can get worse than I am married and the husband and the father of Frisk here. But, just in case." He pulled off the first one. "I mean. It's great that I am free though. I am starting to feel better. And, it's great that you know everything I hid. I'm not alone with it anymore. But this?" He cracked his beer open. "It's a little harder to take."

"Yes. She did it for your happiness," Papyrus said.

"Who did what for my happiness?" Sans asked.

"Oh. Well, we'll get there." Papyrus sat down at the table. "So. Monsters are still alive, they were renamed Balancers, and are now part human, part Monster scientific combination things. Humans are pretty much enslaved to them, and we were all inside a giant ball that 'reset' when things went wrong. Since we are the only real Monsters left, the area that resetted was sort of like . . . a um." Papyrus scratched his cheekbone. "A natural preserve. We are free now though, and in a few short months, we'll be free to roam around as we please again anywhere we want to."

"Okay . . . a ball?" Sans took a sip. So far, nothing heart pounding. Surprising, but nothing that would make him manifest a heart to have a heart attack. "How's that work?"

"Um. Well, there are these human zombie things that catch our soul before it breaks, and then it dies when everything resets and the Monster souls come back." Papyrus smiled. "No Monster ever died. We were just trapped in a zombie human and then brought back later."

"Oh. Yeah. 'Cause that's ordinary."

"You . . . you still don't want to see Chance, do you?"

"Frisk? I want to really see Frisk as my son/wife/thing?" Sans asked. "Uh. No. Not yet. Let's save that for another crazy day. How many more reveals we got? Anything simple you can shoot me?"

"Chance is not that. It's not the thing that caused GENOCIDE. It." Papyrus sighed. "Oh, nevermind. Another day, perhaps."

* * *

 **Grillby's** **. . .**

"Uh, hey." Sans greeted a friend as he sat down at Grillby's.

"Hey, Sans. Sorry to hear about your wife."

"Um. Yeah." Sans just sighed and stared ahead. Monsters said that a lot, and he never really knew what to say to it. Wrapping his head around everything was tough in itself. Marrying Frisk. Father to Frisk. It just sounded ludicrous.

"How is the new one doing?"

"I think it's fine," he said.

"And the other one?"

"What other one?"

"Well, the other one, Sans," he said patting his belly. "Your unborn one."

" . . . uh. Fine?" Sans picked up his phone and almost texted Papyrus.

"Texting Papyrus, huh?" A human sat down next to him. "I'll take a fry, Grillby. Thanks." He looked over toward Sans. "How are you doing, Sans?"

"Are you one of the other Frisks?" Sans questioned him. "I haven't met any of you yet, but I'm pretty Frisked out at this point."

"Me? Nah. Just another trapped human. Still, I can't complain," he smiled. "At least I survived. Name's Conner."

"Oh." Saved another human. "That's an easier thing to digest these days."

"Yeah. It's rough. You're not the only one," Conner said. "Hardly get along with you much, but now that Frisky's flat out disappeared, no reason to exactly avoid you."

"Why?" Sans asked. "What's she got to do with anything?"

"Oh. Well, Frisky had to marry you because of the whole son thing. Experimentation gone wrong. And, well, my Frisky obeyed. Thanks, Grillby," Conner said as he got his fry.

"Your Frisky?" Yikes.

"Well, yeah. I mean?" Conner shouldered him. "You don't think you'd really touch Frisky to give her another baby, did you?"

Oohh . . . double yikes. "Sorry about that, kid. Really. I don't understand half of what's going on."

"It's fine. Besides, in a few months, we'll all be freed," Conner reminded him. "I promise, I'll let you see your son as much as you want. And, I know Monster marriage is forever, but the world's changed outside of that. It's not forever anymore. So."

"Yeah, I get it," Sans nodded. "Marriage would be necessary if I wanted my um . . . my kid. But, yeah. Naw, really. I get it."

"Yeah. See, laws have changed so much too that the marriage ceremony here isn't even really valid. So, it wasn't like a huge deal." Conner shrugged. "Just getting through it. I guess Frisky just couldn't take much more though. I mean, you Monsters have some customs that are not easy for humans."

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about this," Sans said. "I get it. She's your girl. Take her back. I doubt I ever really wanted a Frisk, I just wanted to . . . I guess protect my kid." He looked toward Conner, grabbed his hand, and shook it. "No worries. You can take her and your kid back, but just a couple of things? Okay?" Sans moved away from his seat. "I don't know how I feel about my actual kid. I've never even met it yet. But, don't actually leave too far 'cause that wouldn't be right. And uh, get yourself married?" Sans gestured between them. "This stuff don't happen with marriage. Secure her."

"You're . . . you're giving me permission to marry Frisky?" Conner asked.

"Yeah, sure. New kid is yours. Whatever this experiment did or whatever, that's mine. Just, be good about mine. Okay?" Sans noticed Monsters looking at him around the bar. "What? Okay, I know it's not traditional, but what do you want from me? I obviously wanted my kid, not her. She has someone. What?" Getting tired of the judging eyes, Sans started to leave.

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

"Do you got a picture of the Frisk part that was my wife?" Sans asked. "Kind of want to see what I forced into a marriage with me."

"I am glad you ask! Yes, she was very pretty, and very wonderful." Papyrus pulled out his phone. "And here she is in the wedding pictures!"

Sans looked. He didn't recognize her at all. She was pretty though. Still. "This was part of the kid I married."

"Um. Yes? She was very sweet. You liked her very much," Papyrus said. "She even risked her life to get back to you, so you wouldn't lose your son."

"Yeah. The other part of Frisk." Sans gestured to Papyrus in the picture. "That the kid you're holding? He's smaller."

"He got even smaller when he became a newborn?" Papyrus reminded him. "Do you want to see him today? You look like you are more curious?"

"Of course I am," Sans said as he headed out the door. "It's like the hot topic of Snowdin right now. The wife that erased her husband's memory. Yippee."

"Your son though, Sans?," Papyrus said softly. "Are you ready to see him?"

"Nope." Sans shook his head. "I'm off to work."

"You have a few minutes you could spare. You could see him briefly? It's not like he even talks," Papyrus said. "He's just a babybones still."

"He's a what?" Sans rolled his eyes. "You better be speaking metaphorically. He's not an actual? Oh great. Frisk turned Skeleton."

"You don't get it. You don't get it!" Papyrus shouted at him. "Just see him for a little while? Start to understand this, Sans. You're just listening to facts."

"I'll see it soon. Okay? I'm . . . trying?" Sans shoved his bony hands in his coat. "Look, Papyrus. Each day I find out a new bizarre twist. Then, I leave to try and go on like I haven't just heard that exact thing and it didn't freak me out. That's pretty good in my book, doncha think?" Sans scratched his skull. "Besides, my so-called wife ran away. So, what good is it doing besides filling in a few facts? Which is great. You know, I need to know my life. Appreciate it. But, I also can guess? Yeah?" Sans grabbed the door. "I don't know how, but I'd bet a Grillby Burger that the Frisk I married and that ran away is the one who blocked my memories? Right?"

"Oh." Papyrus rubbed his bony arms. "You figured that out?"

"So if she doesn't want me around, and she doesn't even want me to remember, then what do you want from me?" Sans headed out the door.

"But she does! Sort of! It's a partial mindwipe!" Papyrus shouted after him. "You can have everything back. You just have to try. You just have to _want_ it."

"Oh. That'd explain it." Sans shrugged. "I don't want it."


	55. That schmuck!

**Toriel's Ruins . . .**

"Chance is a very good babybones," Papyrus said as he knocked on the door for Sans. "Except that he can't sit still for more than ten seconds or so."

Sans shrugged. He'd been caught up with pretty much everything so it was time to see the kid itself. He tried to act like it was no big deal. He really didn't know how to take it, but he couldn't ignore it forever. Unlike his wife, it didn't run away. And. And when he heard about the pictures. The pictures of everyone he used to have in his life.

Toriel came to the door empty handed. She saw Sans and instantly lit up. "Are you ready to see your son?"

"Um." Frisk. Son. "Yeah. Think so."

"Great, stay right here." She left for only a little while and returned with a blanket. "He is actually napping. This is a rare occasion, so enjoy." She handed him over.

"Geez, it's really small." Really, really small. He could feel it's rib cage moving up and down. "This is Frisk?"

"Was," Papyrus said. "Was. Reborn. I-it was . . ." He rubbed the back of his head. "This was . . . it was kind of. Sort of maybe. The event that may have perhaps lent itself to you . . ."

 ** _"Why couldn't you have been a Monster, Frisky?!"_**

Huh? What was that? Oh no, he didn't want to really remember. Was that a memory?

"Do you feel anything?" Papyrus asked him. "Did anything come back?"

"Uh."

"Sans?"

"Here." Sans handed him to Papyrus. "Take it."

"But do you remember?"

"Sans?" Toriel asked concerned. "It's okay. It would be good if you remembered."

Why? Why would it be so good if he remembered? He'd heard enough. He'd even heard about the forgotten timeline. Seen the pictures. Papyrus drilled everything into his head. He really apparently liked Frisky.

But . . . she was Conner's. Why would he want to remember that? And the phrase that just popped up in his head. Why would he say that? He watched as Frisk woke up. He looked at him with little light guiders like he had and reached out.

"See? He wants to see you, Sans. You're his dad." Papyrus tried to hand him back over, but Sans didn't have it. But neither did Chance. He slipped out of Papyrus' grasp. "Oh!"

"Don't worry, he does it all the time. I can't contain him," Toriel laughed.

Sans watched as the little babybones came over to him. It stood up wobbly and patted his legs.

 **"Sans! Sans!" It kept walking to him, squeezing its hands in its palms, in and out. It had the same hair he remembered. His shirt was the same too, but way too big for him. It was more of a blanket than a shirt.**

Sans just continued to stare down at it. More memories were coming back. "I shouldn't have come. I don't want to be here."

"He's your son, Sans," Papyrus reminded him. "You can't just ignore him."

"But it . . ." He grabbed at his skull, feeling intense pressure. How was he feeling such pressure?

 **"Okay,** **Chance** **. I am just helping out your soul. It's sick in a unique way, and we are going to make it better, okay?"**

 **"Okay, I guess?"**

 **"Alright, I am going to put my hands right by your chest. You'll feel a little squeeze."**

 **Sans felt the squeeze on his soul. He couldn't ignore the radiant blue in his room, along with his grey soul in front of him.**

"He's sick, how's he sick?" Sans asked. "His soul is sick."

"Not anymore. He was reborn," Papyrus said once again. "He's better. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh." Sans picked him up. "You've caused a mess of damage." He took a couple steps back. Chance reached out to him closer, grabbing onto the furry collar.

 **Sans watched him tug at the furriness of his collar coat. "** **Flowey** **. Give me a few minutes with him, okay?"**

"Flowey really was there." Incredible. It had been . . . "A good flower and . . ."

 **"No achievements. No regrets,"** **Flowey** **said. "Thanks for not letting him down, Smiley** **Trashbag** **. He'd been stuck there since the transformation. He even tried to escape it, like any sane person would. But, like a good Frisk, he did the right thing. All he wanted . . . he just wanted to be found again before he began again."**

"Sans?" Papyrus tried to touch him as Sans walked away with Chance. "Sans, are you okay?"

"You died." Sans looked down at Chance. "The Frisk of you. But, it didn't?" He held him up and watched as he tried to move away. "You're still very . . . Frisk. You're still . . ."

"I can fetch his things," Toriel said. "I can fetch his things if you like. You can take him home."

"Frisk at the beginning." Sans chuckled, suddenly feeling really good. "Hey there! I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton."

 **"Dad." Sans lifted him up slightly. "I'm dad, son. And everything's okay from now on, I promise." He brought him in closer to him, but felt him trying to move away. Much like . . . much like Frisk would do.**

"No, I'm not Sans. I'm dad. I'm your dad. And-and-and . . ." No. No. "How . . ."

"Sans?" Papyrus asked. "Are you okay?"

"I already lost years, why couldn't she have just ran away?!" Sans exploded toward Papyrus. "He's my kid, she made me forget about _my_ own kid? What kind of person would do that?"

"Partial mindwipe," Papyrus said.

"I don't care! If she already knew about the resets and everything, then why? Why would anyone do that after they've . . . they've gone through it?" Sans wiped at his eye sockets. "I'm manifesting tears? I haven't done that for years."

"Not really. We've been doing that a lot lately," Papyrus said softly.

"You want your son. That is clear," Toriel said stiffly. "Frisky wanted you to be happy. She did it the best way she could."

"Did what? What? Wipe my memories, _why?_ "

"To give you no more worries. She wanted you just to be happy." Toriel's eyes were starting to glisten. "My child only wanted happiness for you. This was all she could do because . . ." She folded her paws. "She wasn't a Monster."

 **"Why couldn't you have been a Monster, Frisky?!"**

It echoed in his head again. _Why would I have cared? Should I? But, it doesn't matter because she wasn't mine anyhow. And, and if I did care?_ He looked toward Chance again. He wanted to remember his son. He wanted to remember everything, but if he did? "I complained that she wasn't a Monster and she ran away?"

"Well, um. Well it's. Part of it?" Papyrus said. "She um. Well she."

"You took away her problems and put them on your own shoulders," Toriel said firmly, "and then you blamed her for all of it."

"You were quite emotional at the time. I heard it all from my own room," Papyrus confessed. "You were just, you weren't _there_ Sans. It was almost like a Soul Bearing."

"So, she gave you a partial mindwipe, picked up her own problems, and as a Frisk, dealt with them." Toriel looked away.

"What . . . problems?"

"It doesn't matter," Toriel said. "I know you want your son back. I will go fetch his things and you can take him back home."

"But, isn't Frisky still taking care of him?" Papyrus asked.

"She picked up her own problems and dealt with them."

"Hm?"

Toriel sighed. "She picked up her own problems." She looked toward Sans and Papyrus. "And dealt with them. I'm sorry." She shook her head. "One thing about Frisk that always stayed the same. They never stayed in one place for too long."

* * *

 **Sans and Papyrus' House . . .**

"You would need a steel cage to hold you," Sans chuckled as he tried to figure out where to put Chance. There was no way he was sleeping in something with just a strap over the top of it. "Hey? Papyrus? Why are you ransacking my room?"

"He's looking for an MP," Flowey said. "I love how I came as part of the furniture," he muttered. "Just waiting for him to remember. So, you're a dad again! Congrats! How's it feel?"

"Feels . . ." Sans tickled Chance. "I missed him."

"Rather have him than a simple life of getting up in the morning, going to a simple job with just a few hours of work, and just taking it easy?" Flowey asked. "Because isn't a simple carefree life that you wanted?"

"Well. Um." Sans shrugged. "Life's life." He looked toward Chance who was trying to poke his fingers through his teeth. "Never going to get in there, pal."

"The MP! The MP!" Papyrus checked all over. "You must have another one. They were falling left and right. You need an MP! Where's your MP?"

He was really asking him. "Oh, I think I left it in my other skull. In that part that remembers. Bottom left," Sans teased him.

"But you need an MP!"

"Just wait for it," Flowey said to Sans.

"We need an MP! Alphys has an MP."

"It's coming in a few seconds," Flowey said again.

"Oh but she's so far away-the flower!"

"There it is. Hey, easy!" Flowey complained as Papyrus took him outside and put him near the ground. "What, not even a please?" He sighed and went into the ground. Sans headed outside with Chance, waiting for him to come back.

Papyrus immediately took the MP he brought up. "Uh, there's no transmission."

"Yeah, give it a bit. Chara doesn't automatically know everything," Flowey said. "And Chara is the one that lets the teleportation still function."

"Come on." Papyrus tapped his foot. "Okay, where is it on here?"

"Just give it to Sans. He's used it enough."

"Here, take this." Papyrus reached for Chance.

"Why? What?" Sans looked at Chance. "I was holding him."

"MP, Sans, concentrate!" Papyrus complained.

"Why?" Sans looked at the MP. He played around with it for a bit, some of it starting to seem familiar. It wasn't long before he found what Papyrus probably wanted. "There's a blinking red location. Is that someone with another MP or something?"

"No, it's a Frisk. Just one?" Papyrus came over and looked. "That's . . . not good. Well, Toriel did say you couldn't keep Frisk in one spot for long." He looked over toward Sans. "Go check it out. It's our only lead."

"Okay. If I remembered Frisky, would I be doing this?"

"You would have worked even faster and more frantically than me," Papyrus answered. "Please?"

Sans shrugged and hit it.

* * *

 **Waterfall . . .**

Sans looked around and saw a strange human just kicking back along a bank. "Hey? You a Frisk?" Obviously male, so not his wife.

"Sans." He didn't get up, but looked back toward him. "Hey, Buddy, how are ya?"

Sans approached him. "So I'm trying to find my wife."

"No, you're not. Others are trying to make you find your wife," he said. "You don't care about her. You don't even remember her. That's the way she wanted it."

Okay. Decently smart human. "Do you know where she is?"

"She doesn't want you to worry. If you found me, then that means you got your memories back of your son. Great to hear that. He'd been through a lot of stuff, more than even you'll ever know. But, he got his new beginning. Good for him." He just kept his leg crossed over the other and gently knocked it up and down, like he didn't have a care in the world. "I'm not talking smalltime, Sans. Frisky has got a lot of weight. This isn't a nice little 'guess I'll save this human thing' thing."

"Guessing that," Sans said. "I was her husband though. I was supposed to share the weight."

"Yeah, but you lost it on her. Kept telling her you wished she was . . . well, you know, that could trigger. And I'm not going to force that on ya. Frisky wanted you to have a clear head. She thinks that you worried about her too much." He laughed. "Which totally makes sense because you should. Frisks are nothing but trouble. We really are. But, yeah. No more worries. You've got no worries. Stop the pursuit here if you want."

Sans shoved his hands in his coat. "Aren't there supposed to be more of you? How come I can only find you?"

"Frisks always find a way out. I'm kind of more of a rebel though. I stayed put for you. Just in case." He yawned. "Frisky has got trouble that could kill you to get her out of. That's no lie. You trained constantly with Farrisk, another Frisk. You even took on a flesh body so that you could get more power. All to try and save her."

"Man." Sans kicked a rock with his slippered foot. "Do I . . ."

"Do you risk your life for a girl that stole your memories that you can't even remember?" The Frisk laughed. "I would. I'd risk the world for Frisky. In another timeline, you two were going to get married."

"Yeah, I heard about that one," Sans admitted.

"In that same timeline, she was my girlfriend before her amnesia. And you knew that. Because we'd been friends for over six months."

Ooh. "Not this again." Great. "Sorry, fella. Uh. Does Frisky just get around or something?"

"What do you mean?" The Frisk asked him.

"She's carrying the kid of that Conner guy's too," Sans said.

"Conner? No. She always called him a schmuck. He duped you."

"What?" Duped?

"Since he knew you could judge him, I bet he met you at Grillby's and just looked more toward the bar to pull out the lie," The Frisk said. "No, there's no baby in Frisky right now at all. You two made that up to save us from some enslavement issues. You didn't want to call your wife your concubine. You wanted her as your wife, so there you go."

"So." Great. "So."

"She loves you, Sans. She loves you and only you." The Frisk chuckled lightly. "It's okay. We were never even together in this timeline. I could see it happening, but I never could bring myself to ask her out. Maybe a part of me remembered that we just weren't meant to be. Small part. Obviously we were all mindwiped though. Just data survives. Old and abandoned."

"So. She loved me, and I was fighting her battles, and then I went . . ."

 **"Why couldn't you have just been a Monster?" Sans blurted out. "Nothing would have happened if you'd been a Monster."**

"Careful, Sans," The Frisk warned him. "You can turn around right now, tell whoever sent you that I knew nothing, and this will probably be it. No more worries. Take care of your son, raise him right, and that's it. If you plunge much further, you'll start to remember her."

"A life of no worries . . . or a life . . ."

 **"Why couldn't you have just been a Monster?" Sans blurted out. "Nothing would have happened if you'd been a Monster. Chance would've been born the way he should have. You would have already been here in the mountain, and I wouldn't have had to marry you just to make sure you were safe. You'd be a Monster, not some simple fragile human thing that always needed protecting. You could have your own place, and get your own GOLD." He stood up. "You could handle your own problems. You wouldn't need me to fight your own stupid battles. You wouldn't even have any stupid battles if you were a Monster.** ** _Why_** **couldn't you have been a Monster, Frisky?!"**

Sans grabbed his head. "Why did I say all that?"

"The only thing you said before you said that to her was that you said goodbye to Frisk," The Frisk said. "So, I don't know. You were holding your son real tight, even though nothing was wrong."

"Frisk died." But, this guy. The way he felt. He was Frisk. The way Chance moved. He was Frisk. So which . . .

 **"I'm sorry I broke our promise. I'm sorry I stepped over that line. You never even hurt me. No one else gave me a chance. No one else did, just you, and I'm so sorry." Frisk tightened his fist. "** **Mettaton's** **cooking show was kind of cool.** **Undyne** **fixed spaghetti.** **Flowey** **was always the first thing I saw when I came Underground. When I came from . . . from somewhere. I guess, I fell from the mountain. Right, Sans? I fell from the mountain?"**

"FRISK." Sans looked toward the ground. "I just . . . the whole FRISK. Chance's memories, he was stuck in there and . . ." Now he remembered that. "The memories, it was everything, everything that he could possibly remember. All the different parts of . . . you." Sans pointed toward him. "Friskarino." He pulled out his bony fingers. "Friskay. Farrisk . . . Frisky?"

"Whoah." Friskarino stared at him oddly. "I've never seen the little lights in your eye sockets get that big. Learn something new every day, huh?"

"I-I I didn't mean that, I don't even remember that well, I-" Oh no! "Frisky, shoot!" He covered the front of his skull. What had he done? What had he almost lost forever? "No, I've got to explain. It wasn't me, I just hit a-"

"A limit. I get it. There was a loooot of stuff going on. Every Monster has a limit, first thing you learn as a soldier. Fishy Monster limits are super small, and even the sweetest Dino's have a limit. But, yeah. Frisky was too dang close to the situation to ACT right." Friskarino said. "Love blinded her to your natural limit break."

"Love."

"Yep."

"Did she say that? When, after the date? No, that's when . . . during the week?" Sans asked.

Friskarino shook his head. "She loved you before you even knew she existed separately from Frisk." He chuckled. "Of course, you know, GENOCIDE, and then thinking you'd kill her, it can confuse that whole situation. Oh, and the riding around in her son kind of thing when it happened. Pretty awkward. She'd never admit it though."

"Ha!" Sans laughed. "I knew-Frisky?!"

"Yeah, you've got everything back alright."

Sans rushed toward Friskarino closer. "Where is she? Where? If no Frisk is showing located in the Underground, then where is she?"

"Outside of the Underground. Chara's Determination is getting weaker. Don't know if you've noticed, but the things holding her DETERMINATION strong are getting taken care of. Her brother's almost all healed. Her 'Itty Bitty' is safe and sound. It may not be super weak, but it let us Frisks use the previous teleport hole. Friskay chanced it first, like always. She always puts her life on the line like that. Anyway, an allied Balancer ship is docked up there. So, voila. Home."

"No, she couldn't have left," Sans said outright. "She'd never leave Chance. That's why she even married me, 'cause she'd never leave him. Ever."

"Oh. She'll come back." Friskarino stopped moving his leg around and sat up on the bank. "Just as soon as she's done marrying Conner. You told him to secure her after all."

And that was the end of the light sitting as Sans picked him to stand straight up. He pulled him over closer to him.

He shook Friskarino. "Everyone had to waste time telling me little by little?!" Sans let go and slapped his own forehead. "Our marriage isn't legal outside the Underground!"

"Right. She'll get a clad one with Conner. Iron clad with a contract and a whole bunch of bells and whistles. It'll take a lot longer to process but he's a higher soldier. He'll make it like steel. No more worrying about 04823. No matter how strong he is, he can't beat the law. It'd be like the Underground not making a decision." He spread his hands out far. "Kapow! Boy, he's going to be pissed, but Conner's always been a little snake in the grass. In other words."

"That schmuck!"

"Bingo." Friskarino rubbed his hands together. "Okay, Sans. It's been awhile since a Frisk navigated the outside of the Underground, but it's a whole new territory for you. We don't have countless resets for you to learn the basics, so are you ready to go on one more adventure together?


	56. Through the Grounds of 229

Author's Note: Only six more chapters left. I hope you enjoyed reading Conduit Tale.:)

* * *

 **Teleporting Area . . .**

"No." Chara watched as Sans and Friskarino showed up. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Chara," Sans said firmly. "I've been pretty good about this whole laser and control thing because we need this barrier. But, don't. Not _now_."

"Why not, Romeo?" Chara questioned. "I'm not the one who said 'yeah, marry her and secure her'." She pointed to the sky and a recording of his conversation with Conner echoed through the sky.

 **"I get it. She's your girl. Take her back. I doubt I ever really wanted a Frisk . . . get yourself married . . . secure her."**

"Hi, my name is Sans," Chara mocked him. "Sans the Idiot. Sure, go ahead and make me say my marriage didn't matter and that you could marry her." Chara crossed her arms. " ** _Bone_** fied idiot."

"That wasn't the whole conversation."

"All I know is _no one_ has been talking to me. Alphys has refused to say much to me. Frisky has been hiding in the Ruins. And what do I hear playing near my only weakness in my barrier? That!" Chara was pissed. "So, my determination dropped a bit, and those Frisks sneaked past me. Really. Really! Sometimes I hate FRISK! FRISK, Frisks, and Freaking Frisk the Frisks!" She snorted slightly. "Give me one good reason I should let you just wander off through-"

"Not in the mood."

Friskarino looked toward Sans. It wasn't loud, but anyone within fifty feet could tell he really was not kidding. "Um? Chara? It's really not a time to play. You know Frisky snuck away to marry Conner."

"Bonehead or a schmuck. My patience is just wearing too thin. Seriously, I thought it would take longer for Asriel to start being nice again. Surely by the time my little Itty Bitty got better. But, no, not only are you as far apart as you possibly could be, the only-"

"Chara, seriously!" Friskarino shouted at her. "Sans eye is flashing colors and he is melting the snow over here, knock it off!"

"Fine. Just wanted someone else to be anxious for a change. But really, Sans." Chara looked straight at him. "Do you understand that 04823 doesn't know she's gone because humans have no power? As soon as you leave, he'll register your missing power from the barrier and know something's going on. He'll find the reason, and if you don't move fast enough, _he'll_ get Frisky instead."

Chara held up three fingers. "I am serious. I couldn't warn you because you had some partial mindwipe on your mind. You need to be fully aware. Do you understand? Either you are going to be late, and Conner will have her. If so-"

"I'll kill him."

"Bravo big Monster, it doesn't work like that. Try to kill him and all kinds of Allied Balancers would come to aid him. Even if you manage to kill him, they will keep coming after you, never-ending until you finally die."

"Worth it."

"Well, Monster instinct is raging hard. Good thing I've got no physical body." Chara looked far to her left. "Guess Friskarino left you a lot of space to work things out. Anyhow, you do that and Chance will never know his . . . yah, Monster honor, Papyrus, dead end road. Well, let's hope for not that outcome." She put a finger down. "Second, you stop the wedding."

"By killing him."

"In some way, but 04823 will be right behind you. Or, in front of you. If he nabs her . . ." Chara sighed. "Why waste my time, your Monster Instinct is barely going to register any kind of advice I even try to give. Friskarino! You watch his back."

"Yes," Friskarino came a little closer. "I only have a broken knife, but I'll do my best."

"Fine. Geez, is he _burning_ the ground blue?"

"Uh. Yeah, he is," Friskarino agreed. "We should really go. Come on, Sans. I promise, we can find something that's not innocent at all for you to kill."

* * *

 **Station 229, Outer Open Ground Area . . .**

"Uh. Left?" Friskarino tried to guide Sans. They had the Allied Balancer ship help guide them. Well, Sans did. Especially when they found out he was a Classic Monster. In fact, when Friskarino explained why they needed to move and Sans Monster Instinct was burning a hole in their carpet?

Well, some Balancers were closer to Monsters, still had honor and Sans wasn't going to say no to the help. Which was good because the terrain wasn't the easiest. "Pixie Pudgies are up ahead," Friskarino warned him. "The blue won't bother us but the red will try to flame. They can't be reasoned with. The yellow-" Friskarino watched as Sans took out the reds, and the Balancers roasted the rest. "Will leave you alone if you just tickle their belly. Nevermind." It felt strange not fighting with the boards anymore, but it did make the journey move faster.

They were heading for Station 229, the Ground Area. Right now, Frisky and Conner would have to work out several details before the marriage got started. Things like Balancers to help aid in disputes, which memories to restore, where they would live, and how many times they needed to have intercourse each month. And when one of the Balancers said that _exact phrase_ , Sans roasted everything in sight. They were in nothing but burnt forest for two miles.

Friskarino looked back at his map on his MP. Now that they were away from the Underground, it worked better than ever. "Gattling geese area and Scissor Fairies. Gattling geese can't be reasoned with." He didn't even look up as he heard magic and strangled gawk shrieks. "Scissor Fairies can be reasoned with if you don't join into their conversations. That can be tricky sometimes though because they tend to be all over." He watched as Sans gathered blue power in his hand and let it ride down the center. "Nevermind, they probably won't have any conversations around us anymore."

* * *

 **Outside the barrier near 04823 . . .**

"Umm. You tell him."

"No, you tell him."

"Tell me what?" 04823 said as he came around the corner. "What?"

"A large power just left the Underground somehow," one of his annoying co-workers said. "Really large."

"Hm?" Out? "Not through the top. It's been sealed off, we can't get through Chara."

"They did."

04823 stood closer to the barrier. "Sans. Sans left, how? Why?" No way. "This can't be happening." 95452 was too weak to trace. "Turn up the juice. Try and sense very weak signatures. How many and where?"

"I don't know if we have that capability. Humans don't really have power-"

"Sans power signature just left the Underground, and he wouldn't do that for no reason!" Dang it. It was so much easier when he had Frisk over there. Messing with a changing Skeleton was easy. Everything else he needed technology for. "What's above the teleportation area?"

"I can't tell sir, the barrier's weak spot still has . . ." His co-worker gestured to him. "The ghost is still just sticking up her middle finger at us with her tongue hanging out. It's only weak on the inside I am betting."

"Her determination is going down, but that doesn't matter. Sans is leaving the barrier." 04823 glared at the sky. "There's only one reason. 95452 must be out. Back to the ship."

"But, we still haven't finished the surveillance of-"

"I don't care! Frisky is mine, and if he's chasing her down that only means one thing." He snarled. "That little wannabe got out too. We are heading to Station 229's Ground Area, now!"

"That's a password encoded area. Only high soldiers of the Ships coding 229 can get in there. You are a wandering instructor between ships, you don't have that code," his annoying co-workers complained again. Honestly, he'd give them something to complain about. "We'll have to dive through on an open side and make our way through without the-"

"John! Holy hell, I!"

"Screw co-workers." 04823 pulled his hand away. He didn't need them. They would only slow him down. They didn't matter anyhow. PACIFISM was about not killing a Monster. Screw humans, they were just rodents.

All but 95452. Once he had her determination though, then she was just as expendable.

* * *

 **Password Encoded 229 Ground Area . . .**

Conner sat not very far from Frisky. He whispered in his negotiator's ear.

"Groom to be thinks the name Frisky is a fair offer."

Frisky was on the other side and whispered in her negotiator's ear.

"Bride to be thinks he's a schmuck and cannot . . ." The negotiator waved her hand. "Cannot finagle his way out of the situation. She wishes to know her real name, demands her old memories, and wants her family to be at the wedding."

Conner rolled his eyes again and whispered in his negotiator's ear.

"Groom to be cannot afford to have an entire family brought for the wedding."

Frisky just shouldered her negotiator. It was short code, already worked out.

"Bride to be called him a schmuck."

Frisky whispered into her negotiator's ear again.

"Bride to be wants her real name, her old memories restored, and at least her parents at the wedding."

"Why? That will be one awkward conversation," Conner teased her. "Pleased to meet you mom after all these years. By the way, I accidentally got my sister killed. Please enjoy the cake."

"You're a mongrel," Frisky spoke to him directly. "If it wasn't for the fact that I don't want to lose the chance to watch my son grow up, and not lose my sanity through another mindwipe, there is no way we'd ever be here."

"Or if said fake little hubby didn't resent you being a human and just tell you to basically suck it," Conner laughed. "Oh come on. You know it's true."

"Friskay told you?" Frisky crossed her arms. "Of course she would."

"Hey, it's okay. I don't resent you being human, Babe," Conner said sweetly. "I'm human too. I tend to find humans quite attractive. Speaking of which." Conner whispered into his negotiator's ear.

"Groom to be would like to get the Bride to be's body corrected as soon as possible to its original dimensions. Or." His negotiator gave him an odd look. "A book on little people love making?"

"Repelling," Frisky answered.

"Be repelled all you want right now. By the time this is over, that determination won't be worth jack squat." Conner eyed her with a smirk. "Will it? Hefty price to pay. But, you won't take your freako weirdo kid from daddy, and you won't leave him behind. The price we pay for our loved ones, huh?"

"She can't, but _we_ can still kick your ass."

Conner looked behind him at Farrisk. "Remind me to put you in the contract. You're good friends. Maybe five percent?" Farrisk went by him and stood over by Frisky.

"You absolutely sure about this?" Farrisk warned her again. "That was probably just Sans limit break. Every monster gets them, Frisky."

"I already told you," Frisky looked toward him. "I . . ."

"Got too emotional. Couldn't _see_ if it was. Made an ACT before thinking. Must go through it. I know." Farrisk patted her hand. "Even in marriage, we'll still be here."

"Yeah. I know. I get it." Frisky moved her hand away. There was nothing he could say or do to change the situation. At the time, Frisky didn't even think about Monster limit breaks because Sans was . . . almost invincible to her. Something like a primitive instinct couldn't take him over. Even when they fought in GENOCIDE, he never pulled out of shape. He never bothered yelling. Never stooped to cruel words. If that had never caused that reaction, then what could have?

No, it just couldn't be. Sans never did that. That whole frustration, that whole hurt, it was her. It had to be her. She couldn't even date right by walking and shutting up. As a Frisk, she was outstanding. As a girlfriend, she would be useless. _No, I won't even think about it. He's happy, no matter which way he goes. I'm just not . . ._ No. She pulled her nose slightly in the air. This might be the last thing she did with her determination, but it was still her choice. She spoke to her negotiator.

"Bride to be wants her memories fully restored _before_ the wedding, her parents there, and her real name. This is not a compromise. She also wants the opportunity to have regular visits, at least twelve times a year, to members of her family."

"That's expensive," Conner complained. "Covering my butt from both your troubles is costly enough. I'll find your parents. I'll get the name. Replenishing memories though is a negatory right now. It takes too long. I am going to be having a powerful instructor on my butt _soon_."

Frisky shouldered her negotiator.

"You're a schmuck." Her negotiator cleared her throat. "Pardon. The Bride to be thinks you're a schmuck."

"We can live in the same civilization area as them," Conner reminded her, "but then we won't be near enough to your son. Which, by the way, will be all the way past the Underground. You'll have to teleport to see him, and the cost of MP's as it is to keep them updated? Well, you can work with some lower ones I suppose if you want. Then, you'll have to cross danger areas with Balancers everyday."

"I handle myself fine," Frisky reminded him.

"True, but it wasn't really your handling skills that attracted me to you. Although they helped. Speaking of which, that still needs to be discussed. What are we going to do about your tiny body?" Conner chuckled. "Label you as a gnome? I mean, I'm willing to try different things I guess, but you are so much hotter in your original dimensions. Can we get that fixed?"

"How can you stand being a soldier?" Frisky asked him. "So many humans are pulled straight out of their homes, just mindwiped and shoved into it! How? How do you keep doing this _willingly_?"

"Getting into it on your own and staying put has way more advantages. I'll be sure to teach our kids that. Our wonderfully natural kids." Conner winked.


	57. Foiled

**Station 229, Ground Area . . .**

He. Was not. Budging. Releasing previous memories was a standard. How much further would he push this? Frisky whispered into her negotiator's ear.

"Bride to be would like a two-month delay in the wedding, so that she can use an inexpensive, slow memory retrieval," her negotiator said.

"It takes too long," Conner said again. "I have 04823 I suspect on me soon. We should not dawdle like that."

"Fine, a quick one. I'll use my own money. I do have _some_ ," Frisky pointed out. "It's not exactly that hard to pay for. I just need permission from my higher soldier."

"Buh, uh. Honey? I'm going to be your husband," Conner smiled at her. "I should pay for everything."

Frisky whispered something into her negotiator's ear again. It whispered back into her ear. She whispered back into its ear.

"The Bride to be opposes the marriage until her memories are retrieved. Whether it's slow, or whether she pays for it herself. She _wants_ her memories."

"I can give you your real name," Conner told her. "I can give you your family's presence, I agree to that."

"I am willing to pay with my own self-earned money," Frisky said firmly, "for access to my memories. Conner! What do you know about _my_ memories?"

"Nothing, of course." Conner shrugged. "Those old memories are probably nothing special."

"Then I request, as your future wife, to let me have my memories." Frisky watched him. "I refuse to go through with it, if you don't give them to me! This is a staple tradition of what needs to be done, and you are rebelling with every excuse in the book!"

"Yeah, Conner." Farrisk was standing in the corner along with Friskay. "Maybe you should make it easy and just go for it."

Conner was hesitant. "Fine, a quick one. No guarantees it will be a full retrieval. Your own money, Frisky. Don't let her out of your sight while it's done, Friskay."

"Promise." Friskay went over beside her. "You sure about this?"

"You're positive?" Farrisk answered too.

"Yes. Let's go." Frisky walked through the doors with her escorts. Her last act of determination. At least it would be a great one. And she'd go out the way she always wanted.

Like a Frisk.

* * *

 **Station 229, Ground Area.: The Doors before the Hall of Memories**

To retrieve. To disperse. Mindwipes of all kinds. Memories people wanted erased. Memories they wanted to keep. It was memories that kept everything working so well. It was the reason she feared 04823.

Forgotten memories is why Friskarino would eventually bring Sans there. Maybe a week. Maybe a month. Maybe even a year. She had to. She never wanted him believing that she'd actually marry Conner. She wanted him to know . . . what she _did_ do.

If she learned anything as Frisk, she knew that life was finite but precious. What one does with it and how they spend it has limited value as a human. As much as she wanted to be there for Chance, she had been there in his previous life as Frisk. Sans would be there for his next. It was only fitting.

After all. You didn't spend all your time doing missions around Monsters and not learn a thing or two about honor. "Position set. Advisors and security guards are dead ahead," Frisky muttered to Friskay.

"I know I told you to marry Conner a long time ago, but it was easier to say than to do." Friskay looked straight back at her. "You're a crazy brave Frisk, woman. I can't believe you are doing this."

"There's no other kind of Frisk," Farrisk answered back with a smile. "They'd probably just kill me for it. Maybe make me suffer some torture, but after going through Sans, there's not much left we haven't experienced." He stopped and hugged Frisky and Friskay. "You two are going to go through hell itself when you get captured." He kissed each of them on the head. "So. This Frisk?"

He pushed them backwards and pulled the door to the entrance shut. "Goes at it alone."

'No!" Frisky and Friskay both shouted at the door.

"Oh, that jerk!" Friskay knocked on the door, trying to pull it open. "I miss being FRISK sometimes. We could read each other so much better. His chance of survival just went down less than 1%!"

"Farrisk, what are you doing?!" Frisky yelled. "We need all three of us to survive this!"

"Frisky, I'm sorry. I choose the ACT of _believe_. Give yourself a chance. Friskay, you too. All three of us aren't going down for this. I can do it. Just get out while you can."

"Grab them and hold the door!" Security was coming. Frisky looked toward Friskay.

"How lame. That would have been a much cooler way to go." Friskay shook her head. "I hope he can do it on his own." She waved at the Security. "Hey, our friend just went nuts and slammed the door between us and-" They grabbed her by the arms. "Hey, I promise! We didn't do anything, he pushed us out of the way!"

"Frisky."

Conner's voice. _Crap!_ Frisky turned around and tried to smile. She waved. "Did I tell you how much I don't think you are a schmuck today? Letting me have my memories and everything was just really-"

"Can the ACT. You can barely even try anymore." Conner grabbed Frisky by the arm. He looked toward Friskay. "Played your part beautifully, didn't you? Planning to guard her personally? Even telling me about her sister? Any personal tidbit that would get me to trust you enough to guard her down the path. Because only someone I could _trust_ that much would hold things together when things got violent."

"Not completely. I didn't know about stuff that I do know now," Friskay said offhandedly. "You're a higher soldier. Farrisk and I knew you knew."

"Knew what?" Frisky asked. "Please? You know what's about to happen."

"I welcome it. I'm not going through it all again. I _refuse_!" Friskay shouted. "So just kill me the same way you executed PATIENCE. Take down two Frisks. Be a man! Do it!"

"No!"

"Two Frisks dead. I really should get a medal." Conner grabbed Frisky's arm. "What do you think you were pulling? There's nothing you could really do. What, release memories back to the soldiers and they'd stop fighting? It's been tried before. Succeeded too, but none of it ever goes anywhere. So what are you doing?" Conner checked his MP. "Your little Frisk went past 229's soldier memories area? I knew it, you Frisks are too smart. What is he doing?"

Two armed guards came and held Frisky for him so she couldn't move. She wasn't going to anyhow. Farrisk would probably be killed, but he was going to get the job done if he was already past the soldier's memories.

Frisky had a theory for some time. She wasn't a scientist. She didn't know a whole lot about technical things, but in the way of the world? It was only about two forms of control: Memories and souls. She had always wanted to hit the Ground Area of 229, but there were some things stopping her.

She had her son. She could not risk letting him get hurt in the process. He needed to grow up, or find someone else who'd love him and take care of him for who he was, and not for what he had been.

It was coded. Only the best of the best soldiers would be able to break in. By the time they broke in and found their way through, there would be too many locked doors and security to get anywhere near where they needed to go. Only way in? A legal problem involving higher soldiers. Easiest option? Marriage.

Sans. He deserved his child. Turning back and marrying him was the best solution for the time. And then when he offered to help her in her fight. It was like . . . but, then he realized how really pathetic humans were.

And he was right. She couldn't protect her family, or do anything without being a Monster. Limit break or not, it was true. And so, this was supposed to be it. The one thing as a human she could do.

But, damn Farrisk! Frisky was supposed stay behind while the other two made their escape. He was trying to save them, but instead? Conner just killed Friskay. Farrisk just didn't understand how much she did _not_ ever want to be caught again.

And now? 04823 would still come for her, but in the meantime?

She'd just been bagged by Conner.

"Okay, obviously from what Friskay said right before she lost the back of her head," Conner said, tapping his weapon below his chin. "It sounds like I just got enough proof you were involved. Do you know what that means?"

"A-hole."

"That means I got proof right here that you were involved in whatever shenanigan is going down. Me, a higher soldier." Conner snapped his fingers. "Hey, armed guard on the left? What exactly does that mean for our little marriage deal?"

"She is going to be held for treason?" He reckoned.

"Almost, almost. Not quite there."

Frisky wrinkled her nose and glared at him.

"As long as she is under ownership, her owner can speak for her," Conner said. "And I say this proof isn't really important and 'she was just walking along in the hall, and these other two caused the problems. And it'd be perfect, because of course, we'd already been married'."

"Oh, I'd rather die," Frisky growled at him. "Besides, I _am_ married. To a Classic Monster." She looked at both the guards, hoping for a reaction. Oh. _Completely_ human. "Damn it."

"And it's not legal outside the Underground and you know it," Conner chuckled. "And they won't rise for him being Classic because they are human. Honor don't mean shit to us, remember, babe? That ACT is not going to work." Conner waggled his finger. "Come on, fellas. Bring her back to the marriage discussion. We are going to rework out some things."

Frisky struggled, trying any kind of ACT she could think of. Humans were just as complicated as Monsters that couldn't be reasoned with sometimes. "I can give you money? I'm a woman, please don't hurt me? Are you hungry, I have food? Mercy? Are you dating anyone, pull me away and I'll date you?" It was all desperate. "No, no, no. Just send me to 04823 already!"

"No, no, no. He's not getting you that easy." Conner had the guards sit her down. "So, we are going to rework this marriage deal out better. Negotiators? I only need one of you so this stays legal." He thumbed them out of the room and sat down. "Let's see. Body adjustment. Yes. Intercourse scheduling: Nightly. Twice night and morning, actually, because I don't think I am going to be able to protect you from all the shit you just brought down on yourself anyway. Maybe, two months? Could be one month. Well, we'll see how long you survive, huh?"

Frisky tried to struggle to get away, but it was pointless. Still, it was something her determination made her do anyway. Because now, she would still die. She would be hit with treason and killed, or she would be sent to 04823 still. But now, she was going to be forced to be Conner's for the time she was alive.

"Stop struggling. Play nice?" Conner smiled. "You just attempted to bail on a marriage agreement after getting permission to get your memories. That's highly illegal, and just gave me all the power."

"You can't say that I bailed on the marriage, but I wasn't involved in what will happen."

"Yes. You were going to bail, but your other friends had different ideas," Conner replied. "You can't hit me with a delay ACT to make me stop and think. This is happening. And there is nothing you can do. There's not one person on this planet that can save you, Frisky."

"The defense is too weak!"

"I don't have to work on the defense until after the fact. For now, it works, and later, it won't be a problem, will it?" Conner looked back at the paper. "Old memories? Hell no, never, babe. Besides." He just laughed. "Friskay was right, I remember everything. What would you like to know about your lovely past in the Underground? Do you want to know the first time you actually met your current yet almost former husband? Too bad. That's not happening." He just chuckled. "Faith."


	58. Kill and Cuddle

How did he know Sans loving name for her? _Okay. Concentrate, Frisk. Let's see. Oh, I have to get out, I don't want him touching me. No, I have to concentrate. I am_ _probably on my_ _own . . ._ It was hard to concentrate. Facing 04823 was supposed to be terrifying, but this? This small, simple man. He was. _No, I don't want to marry him! I don't care if Sans loves me as a human or not, I love him and I don't want this! It's wrong and it's sick, no, I refuse! I'd rather die a thousand deaths! Okay, concentrate. Petrified but I have to._ _Most of_ _the Frisks are dead, HONEST is in a mental hospital now, and_ _Friskarino_ _is in the Underground unaware of our plan at all._

She closed her eyes, trying to think. _Let's see. Two guards. Humans. No honor for Classic Monsters. I can't use my marriage_ _as an excuse._ She looked towards Conner. _He's just rattling on thinking life is great. That lowlife._

Think. If Farrisk made it, her next ACT was obvious. Win. If he didn't, then she had to figure out how to get out and over there to accomplish their personal mission. There was no use in fleeing, 04823 was waiting for her no matter what. Her determination was toast. What made her Frisky was toast. What gave her a reason to live would be toast.

And Frisky didn't really care for toast. Too dry and final, but sometimes it was the only thing left to eat. If she had to eat that toast though, she was getting her personal butter rubbed on it. _At the very least, I have to get away from Conner. I can't get married to him, I won't do it._

Then, she saw it. One of the guards was paying less attention to her, his MP going off. He tapped the other guards soldier. While Conner rattled on, one of them bent down to her. "Was . . . was it you?"

She just glanced at him and nodded. Maybe not honor for Monsters, but she knew from their looks at each other, they had honor. For humanity. One of the two guards went over to the negotiator who was just shaking his head and whispered something to him.

He moved out of the way. "I need to use a small break. Go ahead and continue", the negotiator smiled at Conner. "I will approve the changes when I get back."

"Yeah, don't go too far. This won't take long." Conner kept working on the papers himself.

She looked toward each of the guards. Even if they were PACIFIST, this duty fell higher. She glanced and watched one of them grab a long light fixture toward the end of the room.

"I've got a compulsive need to make sure everything works right," the first guard said to the other. He put it lengthwise. "Does it look okay to you?"

They didn't even need to use an ACT, Conner was still unaware of what was happening. Frisky moved down deeper into her chair slowly.

"That just about seals that. No, we don't need to add in any holidays, and that's about-what are you-?!"

Frisky watched as the guards took off over her head and using the light fixture knocked Conner back.

On the ground and sprawled out from the injury it created against his arm, one of the guards dragged him over to a window while another brought Frisky over.

She didn't know if the fall would kill him or not, but if it didn't, he'd have one hell of a time at the hospital. She looked toward the guards.

"Don't know your name. Just get out," one of them said. "Quick."

"The high soldier is the only one who knew, and after the news we just heard, this place won't be standing long anyhow," the other agreed. "No one can match your bravery."

"Some could," she answered back, "but most of them are dead now. I appreciate your help, truly, but running isn't an option. Someone powerful will be after me, and I can't involve you."

"Maybe so," one of the guards grabbed her, "but going down in flames with this place soon, it's not a death sentence for a hero like you! Come on!"

* * *

 **On the Ground of Station 229's Ground Area . . .**

"Oh, damn it!" Conner tried to bend his knee. "Good think it wasn't high enough to kill me."

"Think?"

Ooh. Oooohhh . . . Conner looked behind him and saw Sans. Around him was Friskarino and a group of Balancers probably assisting him. But none of those mattered really. Not looking at Sans.

Who was looking back at him. With a brightly colored eye in blue and yellow. Funny. He always thought of hell as red fire, until he witnessed Sans' eye first hand.

Everyone stepped back from him.

Oh. Damn. "Uh. Hey, Sans. Checking out the surface, huh?" Conner said. "Different. Always wanted different, right? Pretty view?" Conner felt him grab his shoulder, and hoist him up. He got stood up roughly next to the building he just fell out of.

He yelled. He couldn't stand up on his broken leg. He tried to support himself on his other leg. "So? Uh. You . . . "

"Remember? Yep."

"Oh. And. Um. You . . ."

"Upset you took my wife? Yep."

"You know, in the scheme of things." He tried to move away slightly. "I never took anyone's life or anything. I clearly can't marry her now. You win. So. Why not just settle things like gentleman?" He got his answer as Sans just swiped his injured leg out from him. He yelled as he hit the ground again, now his leg in a different position that wouldn't let him stand.

"Oh. The human fell." Sans grabbed him by the shoulder again. "Here. Let me help you up."

"That's okay!" He screamed as he was thrust back up against the building again. He looked down slightly and could see his bone sticking out now. Crap. "Hey! If it makes you feel better, she never intended to marry me, she was here to do something else. Yep, we were on one big mission together!"

"Doing what?" Friskarino asked.

"Well. It was big. It should be all over the news and everything."

"Yeah. What was it?" Friskarino asked again.

" . . . really big. Really, really saving the day big," Conner said again.

Friskarino rolled his eyes. "Frisky didn't _plan_ on marrying him, but she duped him into coming here for some reason it sounds like. Which means . . ."

"He still planned on marrying her."

"She needed assistance?" Conner yelled as Sans grabbed him by the shoulder and started to drag him inside. "Hey, hey, hey! My leg is broken here!" He hopped to try and stay up. "I was trying to help out a friend from getting killed, come on! Where are we going? We don't need to go back in there. Let's not go in there!"

* * *

 **Inside the Ground Area Discussion Area.** **. .**

A person was at a table as they entered. "Hello there. May I help you?" He looked toward Conner. "Oh. You lived."

"Those guards told you? This is ridiculous, why did they help her?" Conner muttered.

"What?"

Oops. Conner looked toward Sans. "I mean she probably went with them."

"That's not really what it seemed like to me," the Negotiator said. "Anyhow, Sir, here are your papers." He went over and handed them to Conner. Directly. Smiling. "Everything you wanted forced on her for her attempt to retrieve her memories has been initialed. You are ready for marriage, but I suggest you leave. This place won't be standing soon. Have a nice day." He whistled as he walked away.

Oh. Crap. Oh. Crap. Oh. The papers were yanked out of his hands as he was tossed to the ground. Ah! Busted leg didn't make this an easy situation to escape from. He backed away towards the wall as Sans looked through the papers and right toward him.

"Oh, come on. You know? It was a joke, Sans, joke! Joke, joke, joke! Jokejokejokejokejoke-"

* * *

Sans looked back toward Friskarino. Even though Conner was a creature with no power and already injured, probably due to Frisky's own ACT? It still felt pretty _damn_ good. He tried to wipe the blood off his coat. It may not have been attempting GENOCIDE like the only humans he ever killed, but he was already dead as soon as he took Frisky. He wanted to use him to find her quicker, but as soon as he saw those papers, it was just over. "Friskarino. Can you find her with an MP up here, Buddy?"

"Don't need it." Friskarino gestured behind him. Sans turned around.

Frisky. She was carrying something small in her hand. She took a step back and gave him an awkward look like she couldn't believe he'd been there. "What? What are you doing here?" She looked toward his hand at the papers, marched over and took them. She took the small thing in her hand and placed it beneath them, setting them on fire. "It's the only proof of my involvement." She didn't quite meet his gaze again. "Friskarino? We need to get out. I had to come back because I couldn't be sure about the papers being found or not, but this place is going to go."

"Why?" Friskarino asked. "What did you do?"

"I woke them up. _We_ woke them up." She watched the papers finish burning and let it fall to the ground. She looked over toward what remained of Conner. "Friskarino. Conner killed KINDNESS. And, she said he-"

"Murdered PATIENCE, I know," Friskarino uttered. "Friskay. Hey, where's Farrisk?" He stepped closer. "Frisky?"

"He went in. It was supposed to be me, and your brother and Friskay were supposed to escape. I'm sorry," she said softly.

Sans didn't bother to look back as he heard Friskarino leave. Hearing a brother was killed was never easy. "Frisky."

"We woke up the resets," she said to him. "I suspected the connection for some time, but I never had the will to get it done. I always had to live for something." She shrugged, much like Sans. "It only woke up the small portion that are controlled here, but everyone knows now. Ongoing satellite footage couldn't miss it. MP news all over is covering reports of outbreaks taking down similar areas like 229's Ground Area." She pointed to her head. "Mindwipe. Just one simple mindwipe on a re-reset and they woke up, body and _soul_. Not bad for a human I guess."

"We do need to get out of here then," one of the Balancers said. "The objective is reached. Let's go." The Balancers took off, leaving just Frisky and Sans in the room.

She was about to turn to go, but he pulled her back. "It's dangerous to stay."

"Hm. Kay." He grabbed her and lifted her up into his arms, bridal style. "Let's go."

"What are you doing?" She said crossly. "Put me down."

"Nope."

"Sans."

"That's my name."

"Not now, Sans. Really," she complained. "What are you even doing here yet?"

"What?" He looked down at her. "Didn't think I'd want to remember you so fast? He closed his eye sockets. "Frisky the Skeleton, you _shouldn't_ have done that. I was just . . ." He shrugged. "A Monster can only take so much. It's not like I tried to kill you like Undyne always did."

"Well, that's different," Frisky admitted. "I know her limits. But . . ."

"I've got Monster Instinct too. It's just . . . tuned in a different direction sometimes." He pulled her closer into his grip. "If you were a Monster, you'd be less trouble, but I don't care. You are who you are, and I love you for it." She went quiet. "We're going back home."

"I can't now."

"Yes, we are."

"You don't get it," Frisky warned him. "This was a one way ticket, Sans."

"04823 is on his way you mean?" He asked her. "I know, but I told you before. He's _mine_." She started to struggle more in his grasp. He just used a little magic to make her heavy enough that she couldn't move as well.

"Hey, don't do that," she complained.

"That is just a _little_ magic, Frisky," Sans said. "You are human. He will tear you into pieces. An ACT won't win. Turning people around and into allies won't save you and." He stopped a second and pulled her head closer to him. "Damn it, Frisky! Do you _know_ how risky that was? Did you see those papers?!"

"I'm Frisk," she said. "I take risks. Before I-" She didn't get to finish as Sans pulled her mouth open with his hand and kissed her briefly.

"He could have married you."

"That wasn't in the plan. I just needed to get permission access, but plans do go awry," she insisted. "You still shouldn't have come. I broke my promise and left. I did let Friskarino stay so that maybe one day-"

"I'd see that you didn't marry Conner and instead could take care of not only yourself but free humanity too? Yeah? Don't _care,_ " he said rudely. "I'd rather have you safe at home in the Underground any day of the week. You're _my_ wife, and you shouldn't be anywhere near here. Now, say your sorry."

What? She tried to struggle again, but she got heavy again. "I am not a little kid, Sans. If I say sorry, then I will say sorry, not because you are demanding it. That takes everything from the gesture."

"Not a little kid? Well, not this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I know when you fell in love with me."

"Pardon?"

"Excuse you. _Kid_."

* * *

Sans looked at her. She was blushing a ton. "So you fell in love with me meeting me inside our kid's body. Like nobody's ever done that?" He joked.

"No one can . . . "

Ha. His speechless Frisk. "If that barely recognizable thing on that wall married you I never would have stopped coming for you. You think I'd be happier without any worries? Like my old days?" He bounced Frisky lightly in his arms. "I love you." That was supposed to be his entrance for his joke, but it was instinctive. "I love you and if you ever try that again I will kill anything in my vicinity to get back to you." Monster instinct. Her face looked really surprised by that one. "It hit _hard_ today, Frisky Faith. I mean it, if you ever do that again, I will chase you down and I will use soo much magic on you to stay in one place that-"

"I love you, My Legendary Fart Master."

Well. That was it. Any sane piece left was going to be leaving soon.

"And . . . I was scared too. Not of dying. I felt . . . when I realized I botched the mission . . . before my luck changed, I." Even with the magic, her determination brought her closer. "I didn't want to die being someone else's Sans! I love _you_!"

Yeah. That was it. Sans let go of her, and held his magic on her until she drifted to the floor. When she came down, he kept his magic off and brought himself beside her, pulling her closer to him. He needed to cuddle. He _needed_ to cuddle her closer.

"Sans?" She sounded concerned. "This building could be hit any second."

Which meant no one was around. And, she really didn't understand his power level sometimes. If he could keep a ship from getting smacked by Balancers while he worked on it, he could handle a few bombs. Anyway, it really didn't matter because the only thing that mattered was he had her back. Safe and sound. His wife. _His_ Frisky. And he needed to cuddle closer. "Trust me, we're fine."

She seemed to understand that and relaxed her body. He could feel her willing trust in him. At the same time as he reached to open her mouth, she was already opening for him. He lied there, tasting her. Feeling her pressed up against him, but it wasn't enough. He shook his coat off. Closer. He wanted to be closer. He pulled away long enough to get his shirt over his head and went right back to her mouth.

Even that wasn't enough though. Hearing how much she really needed him, how much she really loved him, and getting her back from almost being claimed by another. He just. He felt his human lust kicking in, but right now, Monster instinct was so much stronger. He just wanted to be next to her.

He started with her ear, trying to be romantic. Without lips, he was more resorted to licking at her. As he licked at her though, he thought he couldn't get away with it when she laughed.

But when she laughed slightly, she also moaned. _That's right, Frisky loves to laugh._ A lot. He tested it again, not hearing an audible laugh, but feeling her chuckle slightly. Not much, just slightly. Just a little tickle. That seemed to encourage her to kiss him more openly. There wasn't a single guard up against him.

Until. There was a slow clap. Far at the other end . . . was 04823.


	59. Maybe It's Not That Hard To Do It

In the time he clapped, Sans quickly pulled Frisky behind him using his magic. She turned around back to back with him. For a little while, it seemed like the world just stopped for them. Knowing Sans, it may have. Slightly. _This is it._ Sans wasn't giving her a choice, he was fighting 04823. If he won, they'd finish going home and she would do the best she could to be a good wife. They would hold each other every night. Live happily.

If he didn't, then she'd be dragged away and lose her determination. And. And that was fine. Papyrus would take care of Chance, and she would just end it. Becoming cowardice after she lost it. For once, it would be a good thing. "You're in the Hall of Memories, Sans. This is the best place to battle. He can't do anything in the actual hallway without a board or it's instant death. The board is similar, but it's different too. Keep your eyes open." Sans was used to boards. Not an advantage, but a plus. "He's an instructor, he knows all ACTs."

"Not using one."

Plain and clear. Sans wouldn't have anything. When the board was set, he would probably refuse to even talk.

"I need that thing on your back," 04823 said. "Appreciate that you saved me the work on that little twerp, but let's end this. I am a PACIFIST. I'd rather not hurt a Classic Monster." Sans didn't say anything. "Don't be stupid. There aren't any resets this time. How many times do we have to do this? We've fought probably a thousand times." 04823 lowered his hand. "Back then, I was running a Conduit that continually killed you. CHARA. The sheer amount of times I was at your wedding, I lost track."

 _Wedding?_ 04823 had something. "Careful, Sans, if he prepared his MP he has the rights to use lost memories. Forgotten timelines. Anything to mess up your mind to make you lose concentration."

"The determined rodent is right but." He shrugged. "Won't help. Besides, that little shenanigan the Frisks did probably messed up transference right now. So." 04823 yawned. "Give that thing up. It's not worth it." Still, there was no sound from Sans. "Give it back, Classic. I don't want to stop being PACIFIST, but that thing is mine." Still nothing. "Did you enjoy hearing the sound of FRISK's voice as it died inside of your son? Or my technically former son. My claim. You stole my claim."

Still no words. Sans just raised his arm.

"I have trained proficiently and professionally in the field and I am a leader in my Academics." 04823 tilted his head. "What have you ever had?"

"He's right handed, not very good with his left. He never passed out anything with his left hand. One shoe has always been a high top with the second a low top, so he has uneven feet. If he loses them, he'll be off balance."

Sans finally said something. "I've always had Frisk."

"He's always worn very heavy clothes that cover his body. I don't know why, it's never made sense. You'd want to be light in battle."

Ooh. So. _Expert in ACT._ Maybe this wasn't what it appeared on the surface. _What if he's never made the full switch between body and Skeleton?_ He was covered, quite covered. Then again, he was clever. Maybe he was counting on him thinking that to lower his defenses.

The shoes advice though, he might not have seen that. They were even the same bright red. Knock off a shoe, he'd have an advantage. _If I mess up, I lose Frisky. I lose everything that is mine._ That would never happen. Even if he lost it all, he needed to survive long enough to get her to safety.

It was risky, but 04823 knew every single move. Everyone on those ships had studied his fighting, knew about him in just about every way. Except this one. Hopefully, he trained hard enough with Farrisk to get this done.

"Ooh. That's new." 04823 approached closer now that he looked human. "Sans the Skeleton does have a new trick. Good for you. How well are you with it though?"

Sans watched as a board popped up in front of him, asking if he wanted to battle. "Fairly good, X. X this one out."

"I hate that name. Don't start that shit."

"Why?" Sans asked as he hit the invitation. "Afraid you're going to have an Xtra bad time?"

04823 growled as he looked at his board. Sans left nothing open. He didn't want any ACT. He didn't want to let it talk. And if he tried Mercy, he'd kill it the same way he did Frisk. Holding his arm up, he started the show. He spun gaster blasters up and down around X, trying to hit, if not him, then his shoes.

After that, he flipped the battle into jumping over large, tall and medium bones.

Then he used gaster blasters on the side, skinny, and then fat, flipping him back into a spin. Anything different he could think of without wearing himself out too fast.

By the time his turn was over, 04823's hit points had been depleted by a quarter.

But, it was his turn, and unlike Frisk he wouldn't just be dodging a knife. And, he also had Frisky behind him that he would have to move with him.

His power was a strange purple that came from him. His first move was to try and move Frisky, but Sans wasn't having that. He kept one hand out to hold Frisky in place, and held more power in his other hand to fend off magical spears coming to hit them.

He lost the appearance of his one hit point, but Frisky was okay. The board showed his true line now. Once again, that little song she made him hear helped. Yet, he was already down by almost a quarter too.

 **DELAY: FIVE MINUTES**

"He put the battle into delay mode," Frisky said. "You and he can't fight during this time. There is an invisible shield in the room between you two but you are free to talk to each other."

He didn't want to talk, but that didn't stop 04823.

"I really do not want to do this. So, a second warning. This time, with a bonus. Bring him." He gestured behind him and some Balancers had-

"Chance!" Lying in a Balancer's arms, Chance was trying to crawl away, like always. Sans tried to move, but the invisible shield Frisky talked about was in full effect. It didn't stop her from trying too though.

"Poor little thing." Chance was in 04823's arms. "Life was much better when I was your daddy, wasn't it? You weren't a helpless little babybones crawling around. You were defending the world. Saving the day. Doing so much. And now, look at you, Frisk. You're nothing now." Chance hit him on the nose. "That is the best you've got now? A little hit on the nose? You really are nothing, are you?" He held him up high. "I could break every single bone in your little body and your pathetic dad couldn't do a thing. Do you know what happens when a babybones breaks a bone?

Sans kicked and punched the shield, pushing everything he could into it.

"Well, when it grows up to be a Skeleton, it will still have that poor broken bone. Nothing can heal it."

"You can't have him, Chara would never have let you in!" Frisky threatened him.

"No, but seeing as Sans was running after his sweet little wife to save her, I knew something would happen when you saw each other. And your cute little walk together just resting in his arms?" 04823 chuckled. "Her brother was getting better. Chance was safe. And you two were actually happy together. Live video feed near the barrier showed you, all cheery and lovey dovey. So her DETERMINATION? Weakened enough that someone could get inside and fetch sweet little Chance from his loving Uncle Papyrus." He held his hand out to him. "Don't worry, he wasn't killed. We are PACIFISTS and I'm not going to do any more damage than I have to, to a Classic Monster." He shrugged. It's just the humans I hate. There isn't much use for them." He pulled Chance into the air. "Even this thing, this natural half-monster abomination. How could a Monster ever want that?" He tossed Chance in the air and caught him. "I mean, sure, the Human lust is one thing, but it's not _that_ strong. How weak are you to really feel consumed by it?"

"Frisky," Sans demanded. "How do they calculate how much power to hold us back with?"

"At least three times the power source inside," Frisky answered anxiously. "Why?"

 _Too much. I can't ye_ _t._ His strong form couldn't break it yet. He needed to survive longer in the weaker form. But, what did he plan on doing to his son?

"I mean, look at it. What is it?" 04823 shook him lightly as his flesh and muscles disappeared, revealing his true Skeleton form. "Nothing. But. A pile of shattered bones."

"Chance!"

"At least, now it is." He took Chance and threw him hard with his magic straight into a wall, shattering him to pieces. "Right?"

Frisky covered her mouth, overcome with grief. Her boy. Her little, precious boy. Everything he'd gone through to start anew and now. She felt Sans hand reach for hers, but she felt completely out of it. The one that was always supposed to be safe. Her son. Broken and shattered like nothing, not even one bone survived. The ear splitting sound of the end of his bone, broken and jagged on the ground.

She would kill him. If she could, she would kill him. PACIFISM be damned, she would.

"Worst feeling in the world?" 04823 questioned. "Give her up, or it will only get worse. Last chance, Sans the Skeleton."

Sans. Didn't. Speak.

"Fine. That's it. No more leniency. Ask Frisky if she knows what the power legion rule is." She wouldn't speak. "Maybe she doesn't know. Most don't. You need to be at least, oh, an instructor before you ever know it? Now, there's no guarantee this will work since Frisky did just set up a revolution to free the re-resets. But, I bet we still have them." He pushed his bony hands into his own heavy coat and brought out a pair of glasses. "A reset area takes a lot of time and patience. The Underground was one of the largest setup, and you can see by its circumference, that took a grand deal of work. However, it is possible to make a second reset area that does not reset everything. For only the most important things, it is a safeguard . . . around the planet. It obviously only resets certain things. Like, for instance?" He brought his MP out of his pocket. "Preprogrammed souls with a data source when beckoned from a special MP carried by lawmakers, DL's, and uh? Instructors of soldiers. Now, even though the boy is technically nothing but broken bones, it is still found as alive." He shined his MP on it. "It's just in excruciating pain for the rest of its existence. Unless, it's body decides maybe that isn't so good. In which case, when I give it a gentle little 'save and continue'.

Sans and Frisky watched as the bones started to glow. The area above and below it was encased in a golden glow.

"Now, pay attention class," 04823 said as he pointed his MP back at it. "I set it's reset area to a confirmed point where it is only one second away from being shattered to nothing. So, it is in even more excruciating pain. In fact, if you listen closely you can hear his bones being shattered constantly, over and over. Isn't technology fun?" 04823 looked toward Sans. "Careful. Your magic is burning a hole through the floor. Get too bad, you'll lose your mind and hurt your own wife behind you. Now. I'll ask you. One. More. Time. Give her to me."

No. Answer. "Fine." 04823 took his glasses off. "Then we'll continue the fight here in just a second. Except, we've got ourselves some special guests." He pulled out his MP. "Although they aren't really special, no soul of any kind is, we have so many resets, that they all go in for at least a month after death. Just their souls. Their body is still dead, but the souls are alive. You know, like Chara?" He pointed toward Sans. "I tried to show mercy to you, but you brought this upon yourself. So, say hello to the dead."

The glowing area dispersed and in front of them was Chance again. Not little though, more like San's size.

"Chance!" Frisky yelled, unable to contain herself.

"Well, this one's not dead, but I need the container," 04823 insisted. "Can't do much without him."

Chance looked toward his mom confused. He pointed to Sans. "Why are you way over there, Sans?" Then, he grabbed his head and started to stumble and stagger.

"Live ones snag first."

Chance looked toward Sans. "Sans?" He looked at himself. "This is impossible." He patted his cheeks. "No."

"Name?"

"Oh, not you." Chance took a couple steps back. "What have you done?"

"Tell them your name. I haven't got all day."

"Friskarino." Chance looked back toward Sans. "This isn't good. How did he do that?" Chance grabbed his head again and then came up in a rush of madness. "This is so not fair!" He yelled and stomped his foot. "I can't believe Conner killed me. Well, yes I can, but what a jerk! Oh?" He looked surprised. "What's going on?" Chance grabbed his head again.

"FRISK. Impossible." Frisky looked toward Sans. "A reset area for conduits?" She. She should not have been surprised. With the technology they had, anything was possible. Conduits had unlimited resets in life. It made sense there was something for them in death. "Sans. My soul is going to go as soon as the break is over."

Sans held her hand harder. "Nuh uh!"

"It's an automatic pull. It pulled Friskarino." She grabbed him, holding him in a hug. "You know what's going to happen, don't you?" She held him tight. "Listen to me. I know you never do, but you have to. My body will stay on this side. He can't do anything without a body, so he won't take me away. Almost every Frisk is dead, except two. You have to do it again."

"No!" No, no, no! It should have been impossible. "I can't, I could kill you."

"It'd save Chance. He's a failsafe," she reminded him. "Guaranteed to survive. If you don't, if I can't get the DETERMINATION to take over Frisk, then I'm . . ." She didn't want to say it.

"No." That MP. _Skeletons are clever._ He knows a Skeleton's weakness, their child with their fragile bones. He knew his weakness, Frisk in Judgment Hall. Doing all of it during delay . . .

No. _It_ _can't be real. I can't accept it._ 04823 was scared to fight, he was delaying it. He was trying to make him break his fleshy form. _He's weak, using every trick in the book to make me_ _bend_ _. We were the same power level before, which means I could take him on._ He kissed her hand. He would be risking it all if he was wrong. He couldn't risk it. "This could be a trick. I don't know. I can't risk it not being, but there's a really high chance it is." What could he do?

"A trick?" He felt Frisky's hand on his shoulder. "You think it's illusion? Technology is so powerful."

"I think so, but if it's not . . ." He shook his skull. "This won't end well."

"I can find out," she said softly. "Try not to listen, Sans. Watch for reactions."

Sans watched as Frisky started to sing. As horrid as singing was, he looked toward FRISK. Frisky kept Chance buried deep within FRISK when she was there. Without her in there, if it were real, there should be some kind of reaction. If it was more Monster, it would cover its ears. If Chance was in there, he'd react somehow. Any of the humans should have reacted to a song filled with DETERMINATION for them.

The only one who reacted was 04823. Thank goodness for the human singing voice. _It is a trick!_ "I'm getting Chance back, you safe, and I am killing him dead. _Now_. You'll be fine. This isn't your nightmare." His eyes went black. "It's _his_. Step back, Frisky." He consulted the board, discovering during the delay, he had extra options. He'd been so entranced with everything he'd seen in front of him, he could have missed it. Which was probably the point.

Yep. This was over.

"Fully formed FRISK, only needing one more person," 04823 said as FRISK stood still in front of him. He turned to look back toward Sans. "Time is almost up."

For _him_. Sans broke his human form back into Skeleton, and as the delay barriers moved, he made his move.

He threw everything he could at him. Everything mixing gaster blasters with long bone trails ending in bones that threw his magic into the wall. He used elevators but changed the direction, bringing them from clockwise to counter-clockwise every few seconds.

He could tell 04823 wanted to talk some more, but he wasn't having it. He just would have said something like 'how did you know?' Or 'Why didn't you ever break form?'. Sans admitted, it was close. Real close. Even Frisky fell for it, but it was all a giant illusion. The lights, the bones, the souls of Frisk coming back, one gigantic illusion, it's intent just to make him set off his human form too early before getting the power he needed.

Once he learned how to fight in flesh, he understood what Flowey meant. It wasn't just a container, it was a battery, and once he shed it, his power unfolded in massive amounts! It didn't last long. Having years of learning it didn't matter. It was just a short burst. But it was the short burst that Sans needed, and it was the short burst that 04823 wasted, that sealed its fate.

After that round, he'd eliminated more than half of 04823's hit points.

04823 stood up and grabbed at his side. He probably fractured a bone, Sans hit him the best he'd ever done before. While 04823 reached for the board though, he saw it. Sans knew when he saw it because his own little light guiders grew bigger and rounder, revealing it.

Since 04823 used a 'delay' move, the other opponent was awarded something else. Two Bonuses. The distraction had not kept Sans from making his selection. And the choices Sans chose?

Some Food, and Another turn.

If 04823 could talk, he'd be screaming. It was in the same position those soldiers that took on FRISK had been in. He knew his death was imminent.

Sans just stood there eating part of a Grillby burger he had stashed away in his pocket. While under the partial memory loss, he had more GOLD again and, without Frisky's fantastic food, he was eating at Grillby's a lot. Enough that he could keep a spare in his pocket for supper like he used to. He usually went for catsup, but extra money meant Grillby's any day.

Sans couldn't believe just how delicious it tasted. He took bite by bite of his food while morbidly enjoying his prey's look. He looked back toward Frisky and waved slightly. As he finished his last bite, he sucked the juiciness off of his bony fingers.

04823 stole his wedding. Stole Frisky. Stole Chance. He stole everything, and now, it was time to reclaim his own honor.

A little bit of his battery energy left, plus a Grillby burger and his free turn. For it, he used his favorites. He raised his arms and threw him all around with his magic. He did so well, he even managed to knock a tooth loose, as well as his shoe. He didn't even need that handicap now, but it'd still be fun to see him suffer. But, when his life points were almost out, he switched to an old family favorite. One Papyrus liked to use too.

Skipping bones. Usually quite easy, but for a Balancer knowing he was facing death, and who didn't have a good balance himself?

The soul shattered and floated away, while 04823's body hit the ground. Lifeless.

"Sans!" Frisky ran up to him and hugged him, holding him tight. He could feel her fragile human body trembling. "Are you okay?"

Sans looked over at the corner. The Balancers Skeleton was still there, it didn't turn to just dust. He whisked it away to a wall and watched it shatter to pieces. Nothing but tiny pieces of bone and dust now. But it still . . .

Frisky breathed slowly against him. Her body was so relieved he felt her almost collapse against him. He held her closely as the relief settled over both of them and they moved toward the floor. That could have gone so many ways. Just like when Frisk saved the day, if it hadn't all lined up just right, Sans couldn't have won. While they held each other, Sans told her every small thing he held back from her.

They were once going to be married. Chance was natural, between them. The memories were erased, but, the feelings weren't. And?

And he had one odd request.

* * *

Frisky lied on top of Sans, stroking his rib cage like it was an xylophone. With the right stick, he might be. That might make for some fun later. She never wanted to move from that spot. She really didn't imagine her first time with him would be next to the remains of the one who haunted her. A little while ago, she couldn't even imagine being with him at all. She'd only married him for Chance. But, but it was wonderful nevertheless. And being with him wasn't the same as just grabbing a human skeleton from science training. He was hard, but mostly smooth. But her soft flesh and his hard skeleton, they just felt so perfect together. Being with him hadn't been nearly as awkward as she thought it would be. He was a Monster. A loving Monster that was built like a brick. Forget muscular guys, Sans was it. His bones were stronger than cement. Could probably crack it. Yet, he was such a loving skeleton.

How could she be so lucky? How could no other Monster see how absolutely wonderful he'd been? He never gave himself enough credit. Hardly anyone gave him any credit. Well, for the rest of his life, she would make sure he knew just how amazing he had been. "I want to be your Faith, now and forever." She pulled herself against him and kissed his cheekbone. "My Sweet Legendary Fart Master. Thanks for telling me."

"I like Faith. I like Frisky." He moved her even closer. "I love my Frisky Faith. What can I say?" He chuckled. "I need Frisk in my life. Wife and son."

"But." Chance didn't have Frisk's memories. "Chance isn't Frisk."

"Yeah he is. All over again, but he is. He'll just be a happier Frisk. But, I betcha? When he gets older, he'll be just like you remember." He stroked her hair lovingly.

Chance. "I guess I have time to see. I'll be around a few more years," she teased.

"Like heck, you're going to be hundreds upon hundreds of years before I let you go," Sans answered. "No one's taking you away anymore, Frisky Faith. But . . . "

"Hm?"

"How do you feel?"

"I'm incredibly happy."

"Not everything was incredibly happy."

"Yeah. Frisk. It was us. It was us the longest. For better or for worse. We all loved the name. Took it into our very . . ." No, no. Not here, not now. She was with Sans, freed from the insanity or death coming to her. It was a happy time. "I'm sorry."

"Hey? I know," Sans whispered toward her. "You lost all of Frisk except yourself and one more that's . . . that's never coming back."

"Never?" Never ever? "But-"

"He was in love with you," Sans interrupted her. "In this timeline and the last, Frisky. He has to move on. 'Cause if he doesn't, old friend or not, if he weakened and tried to come after you . . ."

Sans would kill him. Great. So. That was it. She really was the last.

"I guess . . . maybe it's not that hard to do it."

Frisky ducked, wiped her tears and paid attention to him. A subject change would be an easier distraction.

"Frisk and Frisky aren't really that close," Sans said, bringing his bony arm behind his head. "Might actually work out, I could just say Frisk for stuff. Two people called at once. That's a good kind of lazy right there."

Frisky lost it when he said that. Her tears overwhelmed her as she started to sob uncontrollably. Sans pulled himself up and held her there for several minutes.

 ** _"Aw, heck. Dodging his attacks way out here in a clearing would have made for one new fun challenge,"_** ** _Farrisk_** ** _answered. "Sup, Sans. You can judge me if you want. I have nothing to hide that you don't know about me already."_**

 ** _"I do, but I'm more shameless and I don't care,"_** ** _Friskay_** ** _said to him with a sneer._**

 ** _"I never agreed to that name,"_** ** _Friskarino_** ** _said as he hugged Frisky, probably happy to see her okay. "But I couldn't say no to it, it was in my name."_**

 ** _If I live, I'll go kill Papyrus just to piss him off._**

 ** _There is an eighty percent probability at least a few of us will survive, if factors from the last split are the same. The conduit of course will survive. Failsafe, Frisky. He'll be okay no matter what._**

 ** _"I will kill you_** **_PERSEVERANCE_** **_if you lay one hand on_** **_my_** ** _Toriel_** ** _!_** ** _You bastard, she does nothing but give you pie and you just play with her emotions!"_**

So long. Souls joined together for so long. It was more than friends, even the most rotten was a part of Frisk.

"There, there," Sans said, holding her. "I guess I finally broke my Frisky, huh? Sorry about that. It's okay, I've been there. But, you're not really alone. You've got a new family." He held her tighter. "Me. Papyrus. Our kid. You've got new friends too, Alphys and Undyne would do anything for you. And Toriel, she's always been like your mom." He shrugged and reached for his coat on the ground. "If you want, one day, I bet we could find your human family too." He pulled out some wrappers from his pocket, then brought out some of his other Grillby burger out. "Um. Not much on this one, but want some?"

Frisky started to laugh as took the chunk of burger. "Only you could ever do that, Sans."

They both got up and got dressed again. Sans pulled her to the right where some papers laid. He looked at it. "Here's your family. It's got your real name on it too."

"When did you get time . . ." She caught his look. Oh. Friskarino. That's how Sans knew he wasn't coming back. While they were being intimate, he must have came. "Well." No time. "Later." She just leaned against him. "I need time with this family, before I move on to my next."

"Okay." Sans trotted out with her in his familiar fashion. "What do you think they'll do when they see me? I bet they get a Monster of a headache."

She tried not to smile too wide.

"Poor inlaws. I've got a Skele-ton of jokes. I'll just have to remember not to use skele-tongue jokes." He winked his left eye socket at her. "Those are just for you."

"Sans."

"Frisky got real frisky today."

"Sans!"

"Practically ripping off my shirt, Frisky, I didn't know if you wanted to fight or kiss."

"Sans!" Her shouting was cut off though as he kissed her.

"That's my name. Let's go home, Frisky."


	60. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

Friskarino had to wait to come back. Being gone from the Underground as Frisk wasn't easy. Being alone after all that time of being as one. Every Frisk was gone though, except one. Even his brother, BRAVERY, all but gone. He went out a hero, but it still put Friskarino in a hard position.

Friskarino knew Sans would let him stay, even though he most likely picked up that he had some feelings for Frisky. But, he did need to move on. Frisky belonged to Sans, he'd known that for longer than he wanted to admit. Even in another timeline, _they_ belonged together. And if there was any doubt, walking in on that scene in the Hall of Memories, as painful as it had been, was the nail in the coffin.

It had been many a year before he was ready to come back. At first, he didn't think he ever would. Then he met someone. Okay, more like hunted for someone. He had to cross many a dangerous barrier in those days to find his someone special, but he did.

In less than a year they had been married and had a son. He, of course, was still drawn to the name Frisk. So, he named him Frisk. Married and with a kid now, he was quite settled and happy, barely thinking about the Underground again.

Until, it was time to cross over. When the Frisks pulled their last trick and showed the world that re-resets could be freed, it changed a lot of things. Humans weren't so scared anymore, and their souls weren't considered weak. They had lived and accepted that Monsters and Balancers were here to stay now, and weren't going to do anything stupid. Although tension was still high between all three actually, no kind of real war broke out. And, humans slowly gained more rights.

In fact, they were on there way to see Alicia's family on the other side of the Underground. A part of him had waited for the day they could cross. His own son was nearly Chance's age before the big change on him, meaning Chance himself would be older. He wouldn't remember him, or anything they did together, but. How much had he ended up like his old self?

Friskarino walked hand in hand with his wife, holding his son as they came up. As a crossing territory, there were a lot more guards. There was a chance he might not even catch a glimpse of anyone he knew. Which, was fine. He didn't want to interrupt their lives, but, it would be good to see someone.

"Halt!"

Papyrus. He still looked the same as the day they met. Friskarino waved, bringing out his proper papers for crossing.

"You look familiar human . . ." Papyrus was trying to size him up. "I am very good at detecting these things. I know I've seen you once before. Maybe twice. Maybe more. Maybe less?" He rubbed his skull and looked at the papers. "Oh, I remember now."

"We are passing through to see my family," Alicia spoke for him. "It should be in the papers?"

"Friskarino!"

To his right though, he saw her, running right toward him. And, for a moment, several feelings came back. He remembered being FRISK again. Remembered the time all their souls were joined into one. Remembered his little crush on her. But, that was all it had been. He waved as she came by. "Hey, Frisky. Just passing through."

"Just passing through my rear end, Friskarino!" She practically slugged him in the shoulder. "You haven't visited nearly six years." She smiled at his wife and son. "Hi, I'm Frisky."

"Yo," Frisk said, waving. "I'm Frisk."

"The name kind of sticks around," Friskarino said. "This is my son."

"Dead giveaway," she teased him and shook his wife's hand. "Hello."

"Hi. I'm Alicia."

"Frisky."

"Frisk!"

"I didn't do anything," Frisk said looking toward him. "I don't even know these people."

"Frriiiiiisk!"

Friskarino watched a familiar looking boy, running through the snow. Same kind of sweater. _Frisk?_ He snuck behind a Sentry station though, and when he came over on the other side, he was a skeleton. "What?"

"Oh, he did not." Frisky yelled toward him. "Chance Frisk the Skeleton, you better not be doing what I think you are doing!"

"No guilt until proven guilty," her son said as he hid behind the sentry station again.

"He changes?" Friskarino asked her.

"Sans said when they are young, they'll do that back and forth," Frisky groaned. "He likes to pretend to be human, get one of the free treats on special, and then go back in his other form for his other one. He's pulled some not so nice things with that trick. I'm waiting for the day he won't be able to use it anymore." She rolled her eyes. "I try to discipline him on it, but half the time when Sans disciplines he laughs too. It's not easy."

"That. Is the coolest thing ever," Friskarino's son said. "That is one cool kid."

"You changed his name though?" Friskarino questioned.

"No. Yes. Well, he is Chance," Frisky explained, "but when he does something not so good, he was called by his middle name. And, as the years progressed . . ." She sighed and looked toward Friskarino directly. "Take away the soldier training from a magical skeleton child and you are left with one powerful little demon sometimes."

Friskarino chuckled. "Still Frisk?"

"Amplified." Frisky gestured to the other end. "Sans will be coming back soon. Papyrus is standing guard over me right now." She waved toward him.

"Great." Friskarino nodded. Even though Sans was always protective, Frisky would always be a soldier. It made sense she would be guarding too. But, that the guard had her own guard. "Things keeping you busy?"

"Some days are kind of nice. Some days I have seen some nasty battles. It's a good mixture. Keeps Sans awake," she laughed. "Never know which one will be which."

"Speaking of which."

Yep, there was that old, familiar voice. Friskarino watched as Sans approached with a couple of burgers.

"He's doing it again," Frisky said to him, gesturing toward Chance. "Sans."

"What?"

"You said he'd give him one more chance."

Sans shrugged. "Did he cause bodily harm or steal GOLD?"

"It can't always meet those standards."

"If it doesn't, then I'd be getting on his case all the time." Sans looked toward Friskarino's wife. "Hi. I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton. You his wife, and that his kid?"

"Yes."

"Smart and good." Sans still pulled Frisky more toward his side. "Go on through."

* * *

As the years passed by, Friskarino watched his son grow up to be a man. Alicia matured along with him, and when it was time to visit his son for graduation, he found himself back at that same spot.

It was almost like a step back in time. While his son was already in his mid-20's, he spotted the original Frisk again. He was making a snowman with Monster Kid. Both. Still kids. Then, he spotted her. This time, she didn't recognize him as fast. While he and Alicia had gotten older, she hadn't changed a day. Her skin was still young and vibrant, her eyes the bluest blue ever. Old feelings crept in again, but it was more of a nostalgia again.

"Hey, it's Friskarino!" Sans seemed a little easier to see him this time. "Hey, Buddy, crossing again?" He looked toward his left. "Where's the kid?"

"Graduating," Friskarino said proudly. "We are on the way to his graduation."

"Flying is just too costly over certain areas right now," his wife admitted, "We are flying most of the way though."

"Nah, I get it." Sans tapped his slipper a few times.

"Frisk!" Papyrus shouted, running toward him. "You naughty little boy, what did you do that woman's- oh hello." Papyrus stopped and looked toward Friskarino. "You look . . . sort of familiar?"

"It's a Frisk," Sans said, "and speaking of which, what did mine do this time?"

"Practicing color changing," Papyrus pointed far to the left. "See the poor Walrus Balancer? She should be brown."

"Pink is cute," Sans chuckled. "Nah, nah, I'll talk to him." Sans nodded. "Go on through."

* * *

Friskarino figured that would probably be the last time he'd ever cross again. He lived too far away now from the Underground, moved several hundred barriers away with Alicia to be closer to their son. The years passed by and he watched his son marry and have kids.

Time marched on him quicker than he thought though, and when Alicia died, he felt the same he had the day he lost contact with the last of Frisk. He moved back to his old home, but didn't book the middle flight out. He just couldn't help himself.

Standing there, probably too old to even recognize, he stood by the Crossing Territory. And, she was there. Still, young as ever. It felt like in that area, all of time had just stopped. He handed his papers over to the guard in front of him, his hands trembling terribly. He didn't want that to happen. Looking at his hands, he remembered just how much time had passed by.

And, walking but not running was a simple Skeleton boy, with Frisk's kind of clothes. This time though, he also had on a coat that looked like Sans. Fit just for him. Still, just a boy. He went over to ask Frisky about something, and she directed him to the left. Maybe to find a friend to play with. Maybe not. It was amazing to see him though. That Frisk reminded him of his own son at that age. Whatever age he was now. Monsters matured so much slower, that was clear. At least he wasn't getting into trouble that day.

He almost wanted to chuckle as he watched Frisk walk. He kind of trotted more, like Sans. In fact, he was even wearing slippers like his dad now.

"Yo."

Friskarino turned and heard the familiar sound of Sans again. "Passing through."

"Would have passed through without a word too." Sans closed one eye socket at him. "I would have missed you if I didn't look at you just right, Friskarino. Frisky probably won't even recognize you."

"That's okay." Friskarino took his papers back slowly. "It was good enough just to see them. Frisk growing up any?"

"Kind of?" Sans shrugged. "He's not causing trouble every two seconds. More like every . . . two minutes," he chuckled. "My son is a good kid though. My wife is a great wife."

"Great. Family is great. Will be seeing the grandkids in a few more weeks." He nodded. "Can't believe I'm almost great grandpa Friskarino. Never thought I'd hear that in a name. It was good to see you, Sans."

"Ye." He seemed to pause to be searching for something. "Humans don't live real long. I hope life was good for you."

"It was great. No regrets," Friskarino nodded. "I hope your life is great too. I'm sure Frisky and Chance turned it upside down."

"Nah." He chuckled and patted his shoulder harder than Friskarino could almost take. It had been playful, but Sans probably forgot for a second who he'd been touching. "They turned it right side up!" He took his bony hand off. "Ooh, sorry about that. I didn't break anything, did I?"

"No. I'll be fine."

"Great. Come on. Law requires you get a special escort for a certain age. Um, you definitely qualify." Sans gestured to follow him. He followed him in the snow, watching Frisky stand guard. Behind her was Chance, looking at something on the ground. "Oh, see? My kid's learning a new kind of magic, something I never knew. He's learning to grow vines and stuff. He's going to be one strong Monster when he grows up."

"Yep. I never asked before, no reason to I suppose, but Chara and Flowey? They get away okay?"

"Long, long, long ago," Sans admitted. "But, I think Asriel and Chara were both ready to go. Um? I do have one question though? You already went through the whole thing with your wife and kid, right? By the way, where is your wife?"

"She passed away," Friskarino admitted, "five years ago."

"Oh. Sorry." That was about as far as Sans would go on that subject. "Um, anyhow. I know it was a long time ago, but what did you do when your kid first started to go to school?"

"Huh?" What did he mean?

"Chance is going to be going to school soon. Won't see him during the day anymore as much. Feels like it might be kind of tough. He's always around here doing-"

"Frisk!"

"Something." Sans looked back toward Frisky. "Did he cause bodily harm or steal GOLD or money?"

Heh. Almost the same thing he said all those years ago when Friskarino first came through. He couldn't help but smile at that. "You just hang on, Sans. Frisky will still be here. It might even be a good idea to cut back on some day hours to spend time with her. Work can really get in the way sometimes."

"Work gets in the way all the time," Sans joked. "Yeah. Might be a good idea to make some free time. I have a feeling we'll be called into school a lot at first. Chance can be quite Frisk sometimes. I don't know if his teachers can handle it all too well. It will suck being them," he almost laughed. "That and Frisky just started carrying our second. So some time off might be good for her too." When he reached the other end, he waved at Friskarino.

Friskarino lifted his hand partway to wave back and made his way through. The next part over, he actually had a ride before heading to his home.

* * *

Sans looked back at the Frisk. Blast from the past. It was amazing how fast humans changed. It was a good thing Frisky did share his lifespan now. He looked back toward Frisky, still cross. Ooh, Chance had been a real Frisk this time. "I'll be on his case all the time if it doesn't qualify," he said as he came next to her.

Amazing though, fragile humans. Every day he and Papyrus watched her the best they could. His wife insisted on helping to guard though, her soldier self not being happy just being at home all day with lots of kids. Although, she was going to have to take some time off. She wasn't showing yet, but there's no way she was going to be battling at any point in that condition.

She hadn't even noticed Friskarino at all. It wasn't surprising, not many would. The old kid didn't seem hurt by it though. Maybe he was even happier that way. "What did he-" Ooh. Frisky grabbed at her stomach. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just, a small annoying and bony kick." Frisky rubbed her tummy. "Anyhow, Chance is-"

"Anyhow, nothing. You need to start staying at home for a few more months."

"At home?" Frisky groaned as she felt another kick. "I'm not even showing."

"Nuh uh, Frisky Faith." He pulled him over closer to him with his bony arm. "I know you don't remember Chance's birthing, but it's not going to be easy. You need to rest up and a healer's visiting once a week."

"Once a week?" She hated that and leaned into him more. "Can I still move around the house?"

"Bed rest, Frisky Faith."

"But-"

Sans pulled her toward him, tapped her chin lightly and she opened her mouth for him for a kiss. "Bed rest. Stay still."

"But Chance is going to be beginning school this week?" She reminded him.

"Well, you are just too **_weak_** for this **_week_**. I'll reschedule. I'll handle it," Sans promised.

She pulled at his other bony arm. "Please My Legendary Fart Master? You know I hate staying still."

"No and No, Frisky Faith. No and no and no. Papyrus and I will take care of it." He patted her nose with his bony finger. "Your mission is to rest up so the next one coming is healthy, Frisky. Got it?"

"You just had to hit me with that." She groaned but hugged him tightly. "I can't believe he's going to be starting to school. It feels like just yesterday he was learning to talk." She groaned again.

"Papyrus!" Sans shouted. "Yo. I have to leave, Frisky needs to get to bed. This one inside her has a bone or two to pick with her."

"Ooh, ouchie." Papyrus saluted. "I will stand guard over all five areas and watch Chance!"

"Five?" Sans questioned. "Who else's are you watching?"

"Alphys and Undyne. They aren't back yet," Papyrus uttered annoyingly. "They took off two hours ago saying something about checking water PH balance. I don't even know what that means."

"I don't think you want to know," Frisky teased Papyrus. "See, Sans? Papyrus is busy enough. I just can't leave."

Sans didn't listen and dialed them up. "Hey, Alphys? You done checking PH balances yet 'cause I need to get home already." He tapped his slipper. "Uh huh. Excuses. Cuddle and sex time later. You don't think I want to go home and ravage Frisky all day in our bed in all kinds of fun positions?"

"Sans," Frisky warned him. "We aren't going through that again."

He pulled the cell away a few seconds. "What? I'm not telling them that I had sex with you over my defeated enemy like I did everyone else. They know already."

"Yeah. Everyone knew. The day of." She didn't sound too happy. "Whenever you meet someone new to the town, that's the first thing you say before your name!" She sounded steamed. "I cuddled and had sex with my wife over my enemy's bones. Hi, I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton."

"You're right," he noticed. "I should flip that around." He moved back toward the cell. "So? Frisky's getting shish kabobbed over here with bones and it's not in the right way like I do it."

"Sans, you sometimes . . ." Frisky just hung her head.

"Great." Sans hung up the phone. "They'll be here in five minutes. Keep your eye on Chance, Pap. If he does anything too wrong, give me a call."

"If he does anything wrong, call," Frisky corrected him. "Alright, fine. I will accept . . . bed rest."

"That's my good soldier. Come on." Sans picked her up, bridal style.

"I can walk you know. Not this, don't carry me all the way home like this," she complained. She kicked her feet back and forth. "Why?"

"I dunno." He rubbed his skull across her forehead. "I was just reminded how precious life is sometimes today. I mean, I know it always is. My life wouldn't be anything without you and Chance. But, sometimes things happen that . . ." He turned back a second and looked in the direction Friskarino went. " . . . that kind of reminds you of what you have." He turned back and headed home. "Beddy bye." He trotted along with her in his grasp. "We won't be able to have sex for awhile, but I'll cuddle with you extra tight tonight." He heard another audible groan. "Bed rest isn't the end of the world, Frisky Faith. You'll be back up and moving around before you know it."

"Hey, dad, where are you taking mom?" Chance asked as he came around the corner from them.

"Home, son." Sans winked an eye socket at him briefly. "You be extra good for your Great Uncle Papyrus. Your mom needs bed rest."

"Uh. Okay. Hey, can I play with Monster Kid though?" Chance practically jumped up and down in his slippers so much, Sans could hear his bones rattle.

"Yeah, but, if I hear about you getting on top of a Sentry station again?" He warned him. "I better not, I mean it. And Monster Kid should **_definitely_** have known better."

"I could go ten times as high," Chance said but then covered his mouth. "I mean, hypothetically guessing?" He kicked his slippered foot in the snow. "Okay, no Sentry climbing. So, can I?"

"Yeah, just try and be good. More Chance. Less Frisk." Yeah right. His son took off and he proceeded to take his Frisky home. "Come on my feisty Frisky Faith. Time to go home." He trotted along at a simple pace. The pace he was always used to. A pace that said he had nowhere special that he really needed to be. A pace that he used to use every day of his life before and after he first met FRISK.

It was his favorite pace, but it was the best when he could hold his Frisky while walking it too.

THE END


End file.
